c21-c40 · 021-ch21

Chapter 21: Each Person's Combat Style

"I thought we were gonna die..."

"Onee-chan... seriously..."

"Haaah... haaah..."

"Sorry to interrupt your exhaustion, but monsters showed up, so combat prep please."

The monster that appeared before us was a Stone Devil—a moving statue with a chimpanzee-like body, a goat's head, and bird wings. These are monsters spawned from the pillars. They must have reacted to the noise we made when we landed.

Normally I'd just fire off some explosion magic and call it a day, but I've got three B-ranks with me now, so I can't do that. If I get careless and end up getting in their way, it could wipe the whole party.

"I'll keep watch on our surroundings, so you three handle that monster."

"Huh?! The strong uncle isn't gonna help us?!"

"Shibasaki-san... so that's how you're playing it..."

First, I want to properly observe what kind of combat style these three have. What I should do depends on that.

"Ugh... this is totally outside expectations. I thought I could just relax and sightsee the deep layer..."

"Just hold your weapon already. Come on, Kyuu-chan too."

"Roger... I get to fight alongside Negomin...!"

There's only one Stone Devil that appeared. Three B-ranks should be able to handle this level.

"I'll charge in, so Mayoi back me up nicely!"

"That's a vague instruction, but understood!"

"Red Boost!"

Negomin casts a speed enhancement enchantment on herself and instantly closes the distance with the Stone Devil. Her weapon is a short dagger—she's the type to layer many small attacks, but against something with high defense like a Stone Devil, that's probably not very effective.

"Sei! Onee-chan, lance!"

"Whoa! Don't swing that right by my face!"

"If it doesn't hit, it doesn't matter!"

Mayoi uses a spear like she looks, but she handles it more delicately than her appearance suggests. Standing behind Negomin, she aims for the absolute limit of attacks that miss Negomin but hit the Stone Devil, and pulls it off. Her spear keeps coming right by Negomin's face, which seems to annoy her, but she's steadily landing effective hits on the Stone Devil.

The Stone Devil wants to attack Mayoi too, but Negomin properly gets in the way of that. She's not just hindering its actions against attacks from others—she's also dodging attacks aimed at herself with ease.

Did she do evasion tanking in a party before? It's no exaggeration to say their coordination is working well because Negomin is holding the front line.

And then...

"Onee-chan, it's charged."

Kyuu, wearing gauntlets, has been continuously charging power from the back since the battle started. Her gauntlets, which were a dull color, are now dyed bright red.

"Alright, Negomin! Jump back in three seconds!"

"Got it!"

"3, 2, 1... jump!"

The two of them leap backward all at once, and as if taking their place, Kyuu reaches right in front of the Stone Devil in a single step.

"Saikyuu Impact!"

DOGOOON!

The released fist lands on the Stone Devil, generating an explosive shockwave. With excessive power, the Stone Devil is pulverized, and the takedown is complete.

So Kyuu is the heavy-hitter type. Their usual combat style must be Mayoi holding the front line while Kyuu in the back watches for openings to switch in and deliver a single blow.

Yeah, their coordination is good, and I understand what elements these three are missing. I just need to fill that gap.

"Did we get it?!"

"Onee-chan, don't say that."

"Shibasaki-san, behind you!"

Without even a moment to catch their breath, a second wave of Stone Devils spawns. This time three appear behind me and come attacking.

"Blast Shot Triple."

Don don don

I fire three explosive shots as I turn around, destroying the Stone Devils. Well, that's about it.

"Huh."

"No way... that was pretty tough for us..."

"Ahahahaha, right..."

Wondering if anything else might attack, I'm scanning for presences around us when a notification sound comes from my incam.

"...ah, ah, Shibasaki-san can you hear me? If you can, please give me a situation report."

It's Maika-chan's voice. The mana must have stabilized enough for the signal to come through better than before.

"I can hear you. Earlier we got caught in the floor 31 ascension drop, and I entered the deep layer accompanied by Negomin, Mayoi, and Kyuu. Currently we're moving toward a mana-stable location to return."

"Situation understood. There's still some noise so it's not perfect, but I'll provide support from here too."

"Thanks. Can you tell me the monster spawn situation in the area?"

"I'm checking but... other than the four you just defeated, there's nothing special. No spawn signs either."

"I see... okay, got it."

That's strange... Stone Devils are monsters that appear one after another in response to sound or presence. Normally they'd swarm us in a wave, but that's not happening.

No point thinking about the cause. Making assumptions without information is meaningless. I should just accept this as good luck.

I take out a device about the size of a pocket watch from my chest pocket.

"Shibasaki-san, what is that?"

"Oh, this... it's called a magic needle compass. It's like a regular compass, but it points toward places where mana flow is stable."

"I didn't know that existed~ Onee-chan, I'm giving you 10 points."

"10 whole points?! That's Onee-chan being super generous..."

"It's more stable here than before, but there's still a high chance the life cord won't activate, so let's head for a mana-stable place like we planned."

"Strong uncle, you can react a little, you know?"

"Haha."

I brush off Mayoi casually and am about to start walking toward where the magic needle compass is pointing, when suddenly an alert blares from my incam.

Seriously, at this timing...?!

"Shibasaki-san, it's an emergency! I'm receiving a distress signal from the 8 o'clock direction!"

"...!"