Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle

199 – It’s a Dungeon Type that Adapts to the Invaders…? (Part 1)

「Allow me to go over the investigation once more.」

We have gathered in the same tent as yesterday.

Similar to yesterday, Maggie is acting as the chairman.

「What I wish for you all to do is investigate the Dungeon, not Clear it completely. Once we have confirmed the threats and treasures held within, our main objective is to accurately study the former and acquire the latter. However, this does not mean that completely Clearing it is out of the question.」

If the Imitations from the Original Dungeon get out, they won’t be able to function for long in areas with scant amounts of Magical Energy in the air, similar to Avatars.

But in that short span of time, it’s possible that they could cause some serious damage, and if it turns out to be a Dragon-level threat, things will get quite dangerous.

What sort of Imitations appear in the Dungeon? Do they have the tendency to head towards the outside? These kinds of questions are critical to confirm.

At present, none of them have shown that tendency, but they have only Cleared the second stratum. We must stay vigilant.

It is possible to take out items acquired in the Original Dungeon. So, she’s saying that, if possible, she would like us to bring them out.

「The aim today is to investigate and Clear the third stratum, and establish a Safe Room. The first investigation team is at a stalemate, thus we are being dispatched. Of particular note is the variety of Imitations that appear. Speaking purely of races, the variety surpasses that of the Demon King Castle.」

Usually, Dungeons have a characteristic theme.

A Dungeon where Monsters who specialize in the fire element gather, and a Dungeon that operates under the concept of catering to beginners like the Elementary Level – Beginner’s Dungeon.

The Demon King Castle is meant to be the Monster’s stronghold and the true dwelling place of the Demon King, so a variety of Monsters are gathered.

An Original Dungeon is a place created on a whim by a Spirit who came across a pool of Magical Energy.

So, it is a place brimming with the Spirit’s fancies, and it just so happens that what it fancies this time is a Dungeon overflowing with different races.

There is no consideration of any sort for entertainment.

「In addition, this Dungeon is predicted to have the characteristic of ‘Studying the invaders’. This is thought to be the cause of the delay in the first investigation team’s investigations and, in truth, the Imitations that appeared in the second stratum were nothing but races that were a bad match-up for the first investigation team. They were able to somehow break through, but they have decided that proceeding further would prove difficult. These are the events that lead up to the need for a second investigation team.」

The first stratum is a forest area. An area where Orcs, Goblins, two-headed demon dogs called Garms and Hellhounds, tree Demi-Beasts called Trents and two-horned horse Demi-Beasts called Bicorns, and even Fairies to Elves have made an appearance.

The first investigation team overcame them. The Spirit most likely observed this. Even if the Dungeon was made because it was bored, it would have anticipated attackers since it is imitating Dungeons.

The second stratum is a mine-type area.

First, the movement of a large number of people is inhibited by the limited width and height of the passageways.

In the face of countless branching paths, the first investigation team divided their manpower.

What appeared were Kobolds, Zombies, Skeleton, Necromancer Job wielding Lichs, giant worm-like Demi-Beasts known as Sandworms, Vampire Bats, Arachne, Spectres, and Golems.

If, for example, a certain small group of them that had no White Sorcerer met with a Spectre, they would be in trouble.

With physical attacks and magic attacks being ineffective, they get hit by the full brunt of their Black Magic. Individually, they aren’t that bad, but it’s troublesome if they all were to attack together.

And then the Zombies and Skeletons controlled by the Lich came.

In addition, the Wizards in the rear guard were assaulted and eaten from the back and even the sides by the Sandworms.

The swordsmen’s attacks are repelled by the Golems, and the defenders are captured by the Arachne’s webs.

Those with little Magical Energy are sucked dry by the Vampire Bats and defeated.

Using all sorts of Monster types, they were plunged into disarray and were unable to handle the attacks of the mob of Kobolds.

「Maybe the reason for the wide variety of Imitations is to see as many different battles as possible. To force us to show our hand, you could say.」

Several people agreed with my words.

「I feel the same. Knowing your enemy like the palm of your hand and then forming a plan to defeat them. …Sounds a lot like a certain Demon King Army’s Chief of Staff, doesn’t it?」

Said Ex.

Arthur puts his hand to his chin, adopting a thinking pose.

「If Lemegeton uses past Clear videos to do research on the Adventurers, then the Spirit is using the first stratum to attain information on the first investigation team. In terms of the difference between Lemegeton and the Spirit-」

「Unlike Lor-…Sir Lemegeton, who was considering the Demon King Army’s victory as well as keeping things entertaining, the Spirit is merely acting on a whim and is causing nothing but trouble.」

As if taking over, Milla spoke.

Ex and Arthur both nodded. They seemed to be smiling slightly.

「It is as Lady Milla says, but let us say that the situation is perilous precisely because of that. A Spirit with the disposition to do anything that it fancies and engaging us using Sir Lemegeton’s methods. On top of that, it is using natural Magical Energy.」

「Lemegeton does it with a mostly fixed cast of Demon King Army members, but there’s a very high chance that this Spirit will toy with the invaders in the next stratum. In other words, it may have more up its sleeve than the Demon King Army.」

Merlin crossed her arms to support her ample bosom and smirked happily.

The second investigation team seemed to have a new awareness of the troublesome nature of the Dungeon now that they had something concrete to compare it to.

It’s kinda odd that what they are comparing it to is me…Lemegeton, though.

The third stratum was an icy cave area.

Here, the first investigation team continued until they sustained damage close to total annihilation and decided that they were not fit to Clear it.

「Fortunately, there seems to be no change to the area’s characteristics or appearing Imitations. Although, we cannot rule out any additional possibilities.」

Even if you were to dive into the Dungeon from the first stratum, the cast of Imitations won’t change.

The Original Dungeon is the domain of the Spirit, so if it wants to drive away Humans, it should restructure its first stratum.

The fact that it doesn’t means that it probably enjoys having people try to Clear it

As if it wants to cleverly defeat them rather than outright crush them.

「That is why you have gathered a team with a rich variety of Jobs regardless of whether they are Human or Demi-Human, right? It should prove amusing to try and find the weakness of this group, wouldn’t it, Ex?」

Ex gave Merlin a slightly delayed wry smile in return.

「…Indeed. If we could overcome the weakness that the Spirit finds in us through its analysis, we shall climb ever higher heights.」

「Correct. Let us use this to our benefit instead.」

Merlin’s positive remarks made the atmosphere slightly brighter.

「Fufu, I expected no less from you, Lady Merlin. …Next is the introduction of techniques and styles that will come from the second Investigation team that I explained during our journey but…I believe it would be better to let Sir Lem explain it.」

I may be an Adventurer fanatic, but, as one would expect, I don’t have much knowledge of Original Dungeons.

All I know is the information I got from the one or two news reports about their discoveries and their findings in the past.

The rest of the time, as in this case, the exploration is outsourced, so there is not much information available to the general public.

That being the case, I have been thinking about how best to Clear the Original Dungeon after getting an explanation from Maggie.

It was Fellow and Maggie who won the investigation this time, but they lack Original Dungeon Clearing experience.

Just how important is building practical knowledge via accumulating experience?

To put it quickly and crudely, say that ‘You were hit by a Black Magic debuff’ and you’re going through the experience thinking “What do I do?” “Should I defeat the Black Sorcerer first?” “Since there are so few of them, should I just leave them be?” “Black Magic seems to be done by firing off Magical Energy, I wonder if it can be defended against like other attacks.” “If it activates by hitting me with Magical Energy, what if I were to wrap myself in an armor of Magical Energy?” “I guarded against it.” This is the conclusion you would arrive at, which is how the use of Resist came to be.

Due to the trial and error of our predecessors, our generation gets to skip that whole process and simply know that you use Resist to deal with Black Magic.

However, due to how Original Dungeons only appear occasionally, the organizations in charge of handling it always change, and how the Spirits disposition can wildly change the difficulty of the Dungeon, it is very difficult to both accumulate and inherit experiences.

Changing places with Maggie, I stand in front of everyone and begin to speak.

「First…」