ch21-ch40 · 030-ch29

Chapter 29

Once you reached B-rank or above as an explorer, most people were faster running on their own than using a car. Of course, since it was still human-powered, maintaining top speed like rolling tires was difficult, but when Saito Megumi was training at the explorer training school, a then-A-rank explorer who was her 'teacher' said something like this.

—We're basically just big fleas or grasshoppers.

What the hell are you saying to a teenage girl, she thought at the time, but now that she thought about it, it was probably about right.

It was a setting she occasionally saw in manga and such—a flea could jump two hundred times its body length. At human scale, that would be three hundred meters in a single bound.

She used to think that was ridiculous.

Now—she found herself thinking that was about right when she went all out.

"You're still streaming, right? Hand me the camera. Sanagi, it's dangerous, so secure that arrogant old man in the suit and wait in the car. This place where the dungeon vanished—ironically—is probably the safest. Nanami, coordinate with the branch office staff and do what needs to be done. Then get back to supporting us immediately."

The silver-haired elf Ilseria, returning from the parking lot, addressed Megumi and the others in a tone that brooked no argument. Cold, sharp—and reliable.

Her voice carried the confidence and certainty that made it clear this doll-like woman was much older than Megumi and the others.

"Megumi, Airi, and Chizuru—follow me. We're heading to suppress the 'Dungeon Rampage' at Noumi Dungeon. If it's the type where hordes of monsters spill out, we'll split up and handle them, but... I think there'll be one big one. Be ready for it."

"...How can you tell?"

Airi looked puzzled. Megumi's mind couldn't keep up with the situation, and she was barely managing to digest Ilseria's words.

In crises like this, surprisingly—or perhaps predictably—it was the healer Mido Airi who kept her cool.

"Because this isn't a normal 'Dungeon Rampage.' If magic power had accumulated slowly and exceeded a threshold, there would probably be signs right up to that threshold—monsters inside the dungeon increasing or getting stronger. That's my guess, anyway."

Ilseria received the streaming camera from their cameraperson Sanagi and fixed it between her collarbones using the strap attached to the device, speaking as she did so.

"I see. So this time—Councilman Sasamori somehow erased the dungeon, causing the magic power of Kamioka Dungeon to rush all at once into Sugai and Noumi Dungeons, which were connected to it... No, the other way around. Since two dungeons went into 'rampage,' thinking that the three were connected is logically the correct order. They were connected, and the influx of magic caused the 'rampage'... I see."

"Hmm," nodded the samurai-ponytailed Kagurazaka Chizuru.

She sounded like she understood, but Megumi knew it was more of a rough grasp than logical comprehension. Chizuru rarely got the "gist of it" wrong, but she usually glossed over the details.

Besides, there was no guarantee that the holy sword wielder—Tia's—words were true. But regardless of the truth of Tia's claims, Kamioka Dungeon had actually vanished and a 'Dungeon Rampage' had been reported.

"Probably."

Ilseria nodded tersely, pulled out her mobile device from her pocket, and gave a small, faint smile. Then she continued, addressing the stream viewers.

"Everyone watching. You hear me. This is an emergency. A lot is unclear, but we've received information that one of S City's three major labyrinths—Kamioka Dungeon, which we were diving into—has disappeared, and the remaining two, Sugai and Noumi Dungeons, are experiencing 'Dungeon Rampages.' Toru and the holy sword woman headed to Sugai Dungeon. We're heading to Noumi Dungeon now. That said, those of us here can't verify the information ourselves. There are... eighty thousand viewers right now. We're relying on the collective intelligence. Investigate the situation, and if you're watching the stream from a nearby location, comment. Sanagi and Nanami will filter the information and pass it to Airi. Airi, give us feedback on anything you think we should know."

The elf's sharp gaze fixed on Megumi.

Megumi tightened her grip on her beloved two-handed sword, which she'd been holding against her chest. She let out a breath, then inhaled—and then nodded firmly.

"Alright. Let's go. We'll follow Ilseria's instructions."

"Don't worry. This S-rank explorer, Ilseria Lumiestel, will protect you all. Megumi and Chizuru, as the vanguard, follow my orders especially. Airi, don't leave my side. Understood? Then—let's move."

In half a second, they exchanged nods, each gripping their weapons, and leaped.

Three hundred meters in a single bound.

Well, no wonder my old classmates were scared of me—Megumi let out a bitter laugh somewhere in her heart.

◇◇◇

If you leaped with all your strength, you really could cover about three hundred meters. Top speed was probably around a hundred meters per second, but just like a fired bullet gradually loses kinetic energy, your speed dropped between each step.

So on average, it was probably a travel speed of about a hundred and eighty kilometers per hour.

An A-rank explorer could maintain that speed for about an hour if they felt like it, but the straight-line distance from Kamioka Dungeon to Noumi Dungeon—they didn't need roads since they weren't using a car—didn't require that much time.

Labyrinths didn't follow common logic, so where they appeared was never fixed. For example, the famous 'Shinjuku Dungeon' in Tokyo had its entrance inside the station, and there was a 'Mt. Fuji Dungeon' with an entrance at the fourth station of Mount Fuji.

Kamioka Dungeon in S City had its entrance at the foot of a mountain on the outskirts. Sugai Dungeon was apparently along a prefectural road at a slightly higher elevation.

And then, Noumi Dungeon.

Worst of all, it was inside the town.

Right near the dungeon entrance there was a parking lot and a labyrinth branch office, but step a little outside that area, and you were in the downtown area of a regional city.

And at the entrance of the aforementioned Noumi Dungeon, there was something gigantic.

Visible even from two kilometers away. A three-headed serpent-like monster. From a reptilian body the size of a single house grew three snakes, each seemingly about thirty meters long.

"Information from the scene! Estimated high S-rank, hydra species! Several local explorers may still be inside Noumi Dungeon!"

Airi's voice rang out. Well, not exactly. At this speed of movement, voice—vibrations in the air—didn't function properly.

She was using magic to deliver 'spirit words' to Megumi's ears.

"That's not a giant monster, it's...!"

It was like Yamata no Orochi. The body looked reptilian, but somehow it stood upright on two legs and a long tail. The three snakes growing from its body were slamming against the ground—but the scale was too large. The nearest labyrinth branch office and most of the surrounding man-made structures had long since been destroyed.

"On the roof of that building over there!"

A building about two hundred meters from the hydra was indicated. Following the flow of high-speed movement, they leaped onto the roof of a nearby building, using the top of a utility pole as a stepping stone to jump again. She'd put a bit too much force into it, so Megumi turned the flat of her two-handed sword forward, using air resistance to slow down.

Landing successful.

Chizuru had reached the building before Megumi, and Ilseria and Airi arrived a moment after Megumi.

The surroundings seemed to be experiencing a power outage, probably because the hydra's rampage had cut power lines. A little further away, city lights were still visible, but the immediate area was pitch dark.

However, as if to prove it was a powerful monster, the area around the hydra was glowing with magic interference light, its massive body eerily illuminated against the night.

"A flood of monsters would have been easier to handle than this. For a hydra species, we need to cut off all three heads simultaneously. But for now, I'll draw its attention. I'll fire one shot, so if you can get close, cut off the heads."

With a CLACK, Ilseria unfolded the bow she was carrying and drew back the magic string. What she released wasn't a physical arrow, but a magic arrow formed from magical power.

She'd bragged that it was a legendary bow created when she brought materials from an S-rank dungeon back to the elven country in Atlantis, using magic technology impossible for modern humans to replicate while incorporating Earth's science as reference... well, it was worth bragging about.

Its name, apparently—the Magic Bow 'Wrath of the Forest God.'

Ilseria used her slender body to its fullest, drawing the string taut with a creak, and the 'arrow' formed by magical power emitted a dazzling light. The magic that had been diffusing around gradually converged, reaching an intensity that made one hesitate to look directly at it.

"Eat this."

Firing and impact were nearly simultaneous.

An arrow faster than a bullet and more powerful than a cannon blew through one of the hydra's heads—leaving a trail of light across the night sky before vanishing.

"Now!"

Ilseria shouted, but she didn't need to say it. The Magic Bow's shot was probably far more powerful than Megumi's full-strength slash, but from the look of it, the hydra's heads seemed cuttable even without that much power.

Not even bothering to exchange glances with Chizuru, Megumi fixed her gaze solely on the hydra and launched herself from the building's roof. Her next foothold was the roof of some shop, slightly lower than the building. Then the top of a utility pole. Then another building's roof.

And now, the hydra was right in front of her.

Chizuru was to her left. The head Ilseria had blown off was already starting to regenerate. Megumi's target was the right head. One final leap. She sprang upward with such force it felt like she was pushing through a wall of air.

"HAAAAAH—!"

With a battle cry, she charged in and swung her two-handed sword.

There was no technique name. If forced to call it something, it would be Spirit, One Flash. She closed to zero distance against the hydra's grotesquely huge body and sliced at its head.

Yes—she cut it. It cut. She severed it.

The clear sensation of cutting through the hydra's neck, thicker than her own sword. Megumi looked to her left while still in the follow-through of her swing. She saw Chizuru had cut off the left head with a mid-air iai slash.

"Magic defense!"

Airi's 'spirit words' reached her. Of course, she didn't need to be told. She'd leaped up and cut the hydra's head while airborne, and there was no way to brace herself while still in the air, but she still concentrated all her magical power to prepare for the impact.

The delay was half an instant. The arrow of 'Wrath of the Forest God' blew away the middle head, which had been starting to regenerate.

The impact was so powerful that the moment the arrow struck, a tremendous shockwave—probably a magical shock that would tear her body apart without magic defense—sent her flying, but she'd anticipated it and braced herself, so it was fine.

She was sent tumbling through the air like a toy thrown by a child throwing a tantrum. But for an A-rank explorer, being thrown by a shockwave was no big deal.

Because air resistance existed.

It wasn't something you noticed in daily life, but under high-speed combat, the atmosphere was a wall. No matter how much initial speed you generated, the air resistance a human experienced was no joke. To deal with it, you needed a technique to part the atmosphere with magical power, but Megumi could only manage it for an instant during attacks.

And—the wall of atmosphere when you were being thrown like this acted as a cushion.

Her speed dropped rapidly.

She controlled her posture in midair and landed on the wall of a building she was about to collide with. Shock absorption using her whole body's spring and magical power. She hesitated briefly whether to return to the building roof where Ilseria and Airi were, or head toward the Noumi Dungeon entrance where the hydra had appeared—and chose the latter.

The hydra hadn't been rampaging for very long, but the government office adjacent to Noumi Dungeon had already been crushed, and the surrounding area was devastated. How many victims were there, and how many could she still save?

Megumi's thoughts on this were less fully formed words and more a vague feeling of "that's how it seems," but precisely because of that, it was her unvarnished true feelings.

She'd entered a government-funded school for training explorers. There were people in the same situation as her, and she'd made close friends. With the support of government-employed 'teachers' and former explorer Hamamatsu Nanami and others, she formed the explorer clan Anthem, became its leader, and had fun doing activities.

So she had to give back.

She had an obligation to help the ordinary people who treated her like a monster.

"Anyone—is anyone there!? If you've been caught in this and are still alive—!"

In just three steps, she covered the distance she'd been thrown, and ignoring the hydra's corpse, which was as big as a single house, she checked for damage.

For now, there were no visible victims in her immediate range. Megumi thought for a moment and was about to check the remains of the labyrinth branch office that the hydra had destroyed when she noticed something off.

Why—wasn't the hydra's corpse disappearing?

Monsters spawned by dungeons should, upon death, drop a magic core or rare item and disappear. That was no exception for monsters created by a 'Dungeon Rampage.'

Yet when she turned around, the hydra's massive reptilian body was... still standing upright, not even collapsing. It showed no sign of dissolving into magical dust.

"Leader! Get back!"

Chizuru's loud voice rang out. Her actual voice.

A voice that sounded almost like a scream—one she'd heard very recently.

"—...Huh?"

When she looked, the hydra's body was swelling up, about to burst.

The body, with a volume equivalent to a single house, was torn open from the inside, spilling organs and blood like some kind of accident, and from within emerged a hydra with five heads, slightly smaller than before.

Instinctively, she knew this was bad.

Despite the reduced volume, the total magical power she could feel through her skin had actually increased. Meaning the magic density was higher. It had learned from that single shot of 'Wrath of the Forest God'—that it needed to increase its density or get blown through. That's why it hadn't reacted at all to Megumi and Chizuru's approach...

Her thoughts stopped there.

A massive wave of organs and blood, like a tsunami, washed over her head-on, and Megumi's consciousness vanished for several seconds. Several seconds, in front of a 'Dungeon Rampage' monster.

Ah, I'm dead, she thought.