Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 47

Defense Specialization and Ancient Heart

Maple immediately called Sally via the message function.

In less than a minute, Sally came running up to the big fountain.

「Ooh… it’s glowing!」

「Yep, I think there’s something to it.」

Sally entered the basin and activated 【Ocean】.

「The glow has gotten stronger, but… it didn’t seem to work.」

All of 【Ocean】 got absorbed.

Sally’s shoulders slumped at the lack of progress again, but Maple, who had been thinking about something, seemed to have an idea and spoke up.

「How about… do all at the same time? Look! Even the picture shows four fountains!」

「Sure… but I can’t keep up with generating water. Even if I use 【Super Acceleration】, I won’t be able to do it fast enough.」

「Since there’s no way we can do it this way… how about I try something?」

「Eh? Try what?」

「Sally isn’t the only one who can make liquids.」

With that, Maple told Sally about the method she had come up with.

「Eh… well, okay. Yeah… sure. Let’s just try it.」

Sally activated 【Ocean】 in the basin again.

Shortly before that, Maple had shouted.

「【Hydra】!」

Yes, the poisonous liquid was also a liquid.

And the poison dragon had three heads.

Each of them went to a different small fountain and swallowed the basins whole.

The two didn’t know if it had to be done with water, and on top of that, they weren’t sure if doing everything simultaneously was needed.

However, even so, they simply had to try it.

The reason why was because this event was probably dependent on the time of the day.

It was almost twelve o’clock at night.

There was no telling when this light phenomenon would end, and if they missed it, the next one would only happen on the night of the sixth day.

They couldn’t wait that long.

Maple’s strategy was full of flaws, but fate seemed to be on the two’s side.

「Eep!?」

「So bright…!」

A blinding light extended from the three fountains towards the big fountain.

The glow from the big fountain grew stronger and stronger, and red crystal parts rose into the air.

The crystals increased their light as they gathered moonlight and shattered, sprinkling red light around.

「Hmm…?」

「W-what is happening?」

The two were anxiously checking their surroundings when suddenly a thunderous roar sounded behind them.

Startled by the sound that echoed through the silent ruins, the two turned around in surprise.

「W-what!?」

「There…!」

Stretching from the square with the big fountain was what used to be the main street.

It continued to the jutting cliff.

A pedestal had stood there and stones had been jutting from it.

But now in the distance was something shining white.

One of the sounds they had just heard was the sound of the pedestal and the stones collapsing.

As they approached and checked the white glow, they saw that it was a magic circle that they had seen many times this event.

Avoiding stepping on the magic circle, the two checked the spot where the jutting stones had been, and noticed something.

「Yikes…」

「T-terrifying…」

The sound of stones collapsing was indeed one of the sounds in that thunderous roar earlier.

However, it was just one of the sounds.

The true nature of the roar was…

The sound of the sea ripping open to create a deep, dark, bottomless hole in its surface.

「There’s something down there, isn’t there…」

「Well, there probably is. Maple, do you want to jump down?」

「A-absolutely no way! It’s scary!」

It was midnight at the moment.

The courage to jump into the nightly sea, which had already been creepy and became even creepier, was not something Maple had, even though she might have been able to withstand the damage.

「Then… let’s get on the magic circle… and I think it might be connected to the bottom of that hole.」

「It’ll lead to somewhere unexplored, won’t it?」

「Yep.」

The two coordinated their timing with “One, two, go!” and got on the magic circle together.

Just like before, the figures of the two disappeared into light particles.

「Where are we?」

「Sally? It’s too dark to see…」

「Wait a moment, okay?」

Sally took out a lantern from her inventory and lit up the area.

「In the sea… maybe?」

「…Ah! Look up!」

Sally, following Maple’s voice, looked up. There she saw a small patch of starry sky.

「Looks like we’re definitely down that hole.」

「There’s a path going there!」

A semi-circular passageway, neatly hollowed out, stretched ahead.

The walls were all seawater.

Some kind of force had torn through the sea to make a path.

「Let’s go through quick, alright? It’s over if it goes back to normal.」

「Yep! That’s right.」

They briskly made their way through the dark undersea tunnel.

If this were daytime, it might have been a beautiful sight, but there was nothing they could do about it since this event was happening at night.

Perhaps anxious in the darkness, where the only light was the lantern, the two unconsciously held each other’s hands.

「Ah! There’s some light to see!」

「I-indeed!」

The two sped up even more and headed for the light. The light grew bigger and bigger, and by the time the two reached it, it was taller than both of them.

The source of the light was the sea.

It was a bright midday sea, as if time had not been moving forward.

Fish were swimming merrily and sounds of bubbles popping could be heard.

The sea, which spread out as if it was pushing away its dark depths, lightened the mood of the two, who had become anxious in the darkness.

A stairway made of coral extended, piercing through the sea.

At the end of the stairs, there was a large door decorated with corals. It was definitely the door to the boss’s room that they had seen many times.

「【Exorcize the demon】, huh… ready for battle?」

「Yep! Ready whenever you are!」

Maple held up her great shield to demonstrate that she was all set.

Sally took a deep breath and opened the door.

First of all, she glanced to check the inside of the room.

If they were to go inside, then, from that moment onwards, they would not be able to leave.

If they could grasp the terrain inside to some extent first, they might be able to fight with advantage.

The state of the room was especially important to Sally, who placed great emphasis on evasion.

「Maple, the inside is a bright, semi-circular dome. If anything, it feels just like the place we’re in now.」

「Ho-ho!」

「It’s also… huge. Diameter… must be at least 50 meters. Even the ceiling is high.」

「Then… the boss must be big?」

With a room that big, it’d be reasonable to assume that the boss would be big as well.

「The ground is a dry stone floor for now… notably, looks like there are no traps.」

「O-okay… then, go in?」

「Coming in!」

「Yep!」

The two rushed into the room.

Maple didn’t hold up her great shield so that she wouldn’t waste 【Eating Inedibles】.

As Sally said, there were no traps, and there were no attacks that scattered matter that would use up 【Eating Inedibles】, either.

「…! It’s coming!」

「Yep!」

With a loud splash, several tentacles stretched out from the ceiling.

To the two, they looked like squid tentacles.

No, they actually were.

A giant squid swimming in the water ceiling was attacking them just by reaching out with its tentacles.

「It’s that dungeon!?」

「But we’re not underwater!?」

The giant squid attacked the surprised two from somewhere else.

A tentacle as big as the two were tall swung out towards Maple.

「There… no effect!」

*Clang* The great shield had devoured the squid’s tentacle, but the squid’s HP bar in the distance did not decrease.

It’s not that it had a lot of health.

It just didn’t have an effect.

「Maybe we need to attack the main body!」

「E-eh!?」

「This is… tough…」

Sally muttered as she glanced at the squid swimming above them.

The squid was trying to attack them from a safe zone without a care in the world.