ch61-ch80 · 091-ch75

Chapter 75

A few days after the mock battles with the SDF's adventurers.

The day had come for Sai and Hexaria to conquer floor twenty-five.

Sai woke up earlier than usual and spent his time constructing battle plans, exclusively assuming the 'Shadow' as his opponent.

Even if the opponent was some kind of golem-like thing that had mastered the other world's fighting style.

His way of fighting wouldn't change.

If you cut it and hit it, it's the same — it'll go down.

◇

By floor twenty-five, the number of strong monsters was high, and the traps were intricate.

Stepping traps with a margin of error of only a few millimeters.

Teleportation traps that triggered suddenly with no way to predict them.

Even the air was laced with poison to gently numb the muscles.

But for veteran adventurers, this was routine — they handled it efficiently.

Still, there was one thing that helped this time.

"Who would've thought we could support Yamana-san and Hexaria-san?"

Leading the way were the members of the SDF adventurer party 'Wakou.'

When they heard Sai and Hexaria were going to fight the floor twenty-five Floor Boss today, they offered to scout ahead.

"We want to beat that thing too, it's our goal. If you figure out how to do it and share that with us, we'll call it even."

Thanks to them, they were able to advance all the way to the area before the Floor Boss room with high spirits.

But here, a problem occurred.

"Huh? Radio interference...?"

"Radio interference."

Sai seemed a bit confused by the term, but it got through to the other members. They each took out their smartphones and launched 'Tower Tube.'

"Smartphone is... mm. No response."

"Same here. No good. The buttons don't respond either. Does that mean the instructions aren't reaching the server side...?"

"Hey hey, interference at this timing... Does that mean we can't watch Yamana-san's fight on stream?"

"Looking at it on my phone, there's a lot of noise and... I can barely hear the audio either."

The 'Wakou' members analyzed.

In contrast, Hexaria was thinking about radio waves and mana.

"Hmm... The atmospheric mana is increasing. This kind of thing is possible."

"Hexaria-san. What do you mean?"

"The magical essence within the mana is likely interfering with the radio waves."

"Mana interferes with radio waves too..."

"I don't know the details, but it's possible."

Magical essence has the property of promoting transformation.

That's why it's 'magical.'

This applies not only to physical materials but also to living beings like humans, and there's a possibility it could even alter phenomena like radio waves.

What kind of changes would occur would need to be analyzed.

Either way, on Earth, where mana is beginning to activate, they were now in one of its central locations — the upper floors of Shinjuku Tower.

In the future, these kinds of issues might increase.

"We do need to investigate that, but either way, we can't keep dawdling here."

"Yeah."

Circumstances might have changed, but what Sai and the others needed to do hadn't.

They bid farewell to the 'Wakou' members who had guided them this far, and Sai and Hexaria entered the floor twenty-five Floor Boss room.

What kind of monster was the 'Shadow'?

They needed to see it with their own eyes.

The door to the Floor Boss room opened.

And then.

Standing there was not the mist-wreathed monster 'Shadow.'

Instead, a single man stood in its place.

A tall, elderly man about two meters in height.

Blonde slicked-back hair and a stern expression.

He wore no armor, just ordinary red adventurer's clothing.

...But that red was dyed with precious blood bestowed by the Dragon God — a masterpiece.

It raised all resistances and boasted tremendous defensive performance.

An item that had even been celebrated in bard's songs.

At his waist were two blades.

...They looked like simple fittings, but they were no cheap items.

His legend was supported by these two blades.

Masterpieces forged by a legendary smith.

Both Sai and Hexaria stared wide-eyed at the man.

"...Well, well."

"No way."

They hadn't seen him in a long time, but he was someone they could never forget.

The man standing before them was exactly that kind of presence.

The man grinned.

'...Well, if it ain't the kid and the lady.'

'...Brad, right?'

'Yeah. Long time no see, Sai.'

'Who would have thought we'd meet in a place like this...'

'Funny how the world works, huh? Hahaha!'

The man's name was Brad Gabelatory.

The 'Great Hero' whose name thundered even louder than Hexaria's in the other world stood there.

A great hero whose name even children would know from books, poems, and bedtime stories.

No matter how desperate the situation, if he was there, there'd be a dramatic reversal.

The invincible great hero, 'Brad Gabelatory.'

His achievements were numerous, but above all, he defeated the great calamity that devoured a nation.

The 'Shadow-Eating Demon King' that came from another world.

And...

'Who'd have thought my master would be in a place like this.'

'Have you fallen so far as to become this shabby?'

He was one of Sai's masters, and there was no one Sai had modeled himself after more in terms of combat.

A great benefactor who had such a profound influence on him, and a man who was said to have died some time ago.

If Sai's memory was correct, it was about fifteen years ago.

'Don't worry, I ain't no evil spirit.'

'Should we be happy about this reunion?'

'It is said that after heroes die, they become heroic spirits, and are sometimes granted the honor of serving the gods...'

Heroic spirits. On Earth, the Einherjar was a famous concept.

A figure from Norse mythology where dead warriors are invited to Valhalla after death to keep training in preparation for Ragnarok.

In the other world, there was a similar mechanism where those who caught the eye of the gods served them even after death.

Hexaria was recalling that.

'There's a lot of circumstances, y'know. I got stories to tell, but I'm the Floor Boss here, got it? You ready for this?'

Sai took his stance.

The man before him, Brad — Sai knew his fighting style well.

In a sense, he was definitely an even more dangerous opponent than the Shadow-Eating Demon King.

Simply put, he was strong.

On that single point.

Decades ago, he had enough skill to go head-to-head with Hexaria, who possessed divinity. To those who knew her, just that fact was enough to call it "impossible."

And that man had just asked, "You ready for this?"

Along with those words, the great hero before him was leaking killing intent.

It was a deliberately emitted killing intent.

Then as his disciple, he had to answer.

'Roger!'

Sai assumed his stance.

But Brad was still smirking.

'...That said, if it's you and Hexaria both coming at me, even I'd be in trouble. Especially you, Hexaria.'

'Hmph. That's obvious.'

'So before we fight, I'm gonna have to use my trump card.'

'Your trump card?'

With that, Brad pulled out from his waist pocket a talisman inscribed with a magical formula.

'Hey hey. What are you planning?'

'Just watch. This thing was prepared so the fight wouldn't be boring.'

Saying that, Brad infused the talisman with magical power and placed it on the ground.

'Come forth, one who shall make this battle an even match! Forced Summon!'

Before Brad, a magic circle unfolded around the talisman.

'Wha!?'

'............'

Sai was shocked, and Hexaria narrowed her eyes.

Black light overflowed from the magic circle.

Forced Summon.

It was a magical formula that forcibly summoned a target, literally giving them no right to refuse.

A spell that wouldn't even activate unless the power dynamic was heavily skewed in the caster's favor.

Hexaria, who had mastered magical arts, understood.

The abnormality of the current situation.

A great hero who should have been dead, present in this place.

And on top of that, using something called Forced Summon.

Magic that was said to be absolutely impossible for a person to use, being used so casually.

She wanted to pursue her thoughts further, but before that, a person emerged from the magic circle.

They focused on the target.

Who, exactly, had been forcibly summoned...

'Huh?'

Ears protruded from her head, and a thick, long tail extended from her rear.

A voluptuous beastman stood there.

She was a hybrid-type beastman, her father a lion-type and her mother a tiger-type.

Such a woman stood before them.

The problem might have been that her entire body was naked and wet.

Or perhaps that she was an acquaintance of Sai and Hexaria.

'Sis Cyril...'

Sai was speechless at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

'Of all people...!'

Hexaria's face looked like she'd bitten into a bitter bug.

'Huh, Sai-kun and Hexaria!? Wait, what, what, what's going on!?'

The flustered woman's name was Cyril Greenvalley.

She bore the epithet 'Beast Princess' and was a top-rank adventurer from the other world.

And although she was younger than Sai, she was Sai's self-proclaimed older sister and one of his close confidants.

Noticing her state, Sai hurriedly threw a towel toward Cyril.

And he prayed.

Right now, there was a possibility that a naked beastgirl was being streamed to living rooms across the nation.

Radio interference, just this once, do your job...!

Mosaic, please be working...!

That was Sai's only wish.

================ Thank you very much for reading.