Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle - Chapter 201-2

201 – The Fishing Promise and the Radiance of the Night (Part 2)

Furcus nodded with satisfaction and walked away somewhere.

……If I’m not mistaken, the cooking area is over there.

「…Lem, you’re not nervous?」

「Nervous?」

When I looked at him, Josh’s expression was a little tense.

「Because she… Furcus is quite the strong opponent, you know.」

「You’re right. Furcus is very strong.」

「Since the Demon King corresponds to the Heroes, it is usually necessary for several Monsters to cooperate with each other in order to defeat a Hero. This is the reason why even the Dungeons that don’t have a Demon King can successfully be defended.」

It seemed like it was a long time ago, but the way that I and everyone else in the first Stratum annihilated the Thunder Hero Party could also be counted as the cooperation of several Monsters.

They are still growing, but still, in a battle between a Hero and the Hellhounds, it would be difficult for the latter to win. It’s almost impossible.

I’m not saying that it’s bad. It’s just that there is such a reality.

「Yeah…」

「But there are always exceptions to everything. For example, Sir Arthur is not to be outdone by the average Hero.」

「I also think so.」

Obviously, a Job is just a Job.

Even if they are all Heroes, their abilities vary.

If the one on the top is the Storm Hero Aerial, the one on the bottom is the youth that failed to clear an Intermediate Dungeon multiple times and has sunk into despair.

Both special Adventurers and special Heroes that are present in the human race are further graded in this industry that is filled with Heroes.

Still, they are special among the human race.

However, even those people are not invincible.

Just like Arthur, the one that Josh just mentioned, some of the best Warriors are capable of fighting single-handedly against a Hero and can actually make the viewers think that he has a chance of winning.

「Furcus is like that as well.」

「…Yeah.」

Furcus is my comrade from the Demon King Castle. So I don’t feel uncomfortable with the compliment for her, but I was a little bothered about how he was wording it.

「Did something happen with Furcus?」

「Eh? No, no way. I hardly ever talk to her.」

I don’t think he’s lying. That’s not just limited to Josh, since Furcus doesn’t talk much in the first place.

「I just felt like you had a lot more emotions contained in those sentences.」

「…I have a lot of Ogre acquaintances. That’s why, um, how should I word this, the difference in strength between the other races and the Ogres is so apparent… To be honest, there are not many Monsters, even among the purebloods, who are as strong as they are.」

I wonder how many purebloods are there in this day and age in the purest sense of the word.

I feel like I’ve heard somewhere that even Humans have some Demi-Human blood mixed in their veins if they trace it back to their ancestors.

Still, there are still places that insist on marriage only between people of the same race.

「It is believed that the darker the blood, the stronger the Ogre becomes, right?」

「Yes…」

From Josh’s point of view, Furcus is someone to be nervous about.

It may be similar to how an Adventurer becomes nervous in front of Aerial.

「Then, would you like to go fishing with us tomorrow?」

「Ehh…?!」

「I’m not going to force you to do it, but we’re all on the same side now. You can’t always be on your toes all the time, right?」

「That’s… You’re right.」

「Don’t worry. She’s not scary. She’s kind and sometimes even jokes around, despite her appearance.」

「You’re…so daring.」

「Huh, is that so…?」

「Or more like you’re not timid… I’m learning a lot from you…!」

What…?

But I think it’s very good that Josh is yearning for growth.

「O-okay. Then, you are agreeing to go together with us tomorrow, right?」

「Definitely…!」

「Of course, I will accompany you too, right?」

When I noticed, Milla was standing next to me.

「Yeah, let’s do that.」

I’ve gotten used to it, but Josh froze in surprise.

「Sir Lem, Sir Ex, a moment of your time?」

After being called by Maggie, I left the place.

The leaders of the five parties were gathered together.

「I’d like to thank you again for your hard work today.」

After bowing gracefully, Maggie continued.

「I would like to hear your opinions concerning today’s exploration…」

「The 3rd Stratum was originally “adapted” to the first group, right? That’s why, although it was troublesome, we were able to smoothly get through it. Of course, it’s also because our comrades are excellent.」

My eyes met with Ex’s. One side of his lip was raised and he laughed.

I thought to myself that there are actually people who can make such a trivial gesture look good.

「Hmm, we think that the next stratum is the crucial one.」

He’s a male Ogre. The one who constricted the Hydra’s neck with his arms.

He’s the leader of a party that includes a cat Demi-Human who calls Milla her older sister.

「If it’s a place full of narrow passages, such as a mining area, then it’ll cause large-scale magic that Master Merlin is good at to be sealed.」

She’s a Wizard. She is also one of the people who is learning magic from Merlin during this trip.

「Ahh, so that’s the pattern, huh~ That sounds possible~ Hmm, more like, don’t you think that the Imitations are strong? The Floor Boss battle was so hard that I wondered if we could actually defeat it though~ Well, it turned out we could~」

She’s a rabbit Demi-Human. Her leg strength is amazing, especially her jumping ability. The kicks delivered from those legs of hers are so powerful that they can open a hole in the Imitations’ abdomen.

By the way, the word “tough” is usually used to describe her high stamina.

There were two types of Imitations that appeared in the Floor Boss battle.

One was a half-horse, half-fish Kelpie. A horse Demi-Beast with the lower body of a fish and it was green in color.

It lived in rivers and lakes and was said to eat people.

The other is a Giant with hard skin and a strong body. According to Furcus, he’s called a Grendel.

It was hard to defeat a Grendel.

Most of the attacks were blocked by his skin and it was hard to see that even if the attack had worked, the damage to his huge body would be almost negligible.

In addition, the field was destroyed by a single blow from the enemy, making it harder and harder to fight.

It was also hard because the stage was in the shape of a lake so that the Kelpie could move around.

In the end, Maggie summoned Furcus’s armor, this is how Furcus’s armor form is used, then we all prepared while the armored Furcus held Grendel back.

I prepared Defense Down, Merlin and the Wizards prepared the wind blades, Ex was trying to sew the shadow of the enemy to stop his movements, Maggie had a huge axe, and Milla created a huge blood blade.

Everyone’s attacks struck at once, overcame the enemy’s defenses, and inflicted massive damage.

「I think that the Grendel was meant to force us to show our power. In addition to Merlin’s magic power, I think it wanted to see the other members’ maximum attack power.」

「…If that’s true, the 4th Stratum is likely to be a more intense adventure than this one.」

「I also think Lem’s prediction is correct, but there are still some points that bother me.」

「Are you talking about how there’s no restraint?」

Maggie nodded.

「Yes. The Original Dungeon is created using a natural pool of Magical Energy rather than a Dungeon Core. Although the pool is huge, it is clearly limited. If you think about the reappearance of the Imitations, even if we just keep hunting the Imitations in the 1st Stratum, it will eventually be used up.」

The Spirits won’t enjoy that either, so they might release the Imitations from the 2nd Stratum onward if they realize that the humans have chosen this approach.

The reason why we are attacking and exploring in a straightforward manner is that we want to avoid offending the Spirits as much as possible.

They have even prepared treasure chests and they seem to be completely looking forward to our attack.

「If you think about it like that, a considerable amount of Magical Energy would have been consumed in the 3rd Stratum alone.」

「That’s true. It takes a considerable amount of Magical Energy to reproduce the regeneration ability and high durability.」

The male Ogre and the Wizard said.

「Um, so~, so~, so~?」

The Rabbit Demi-Human glanced at me while squeezing her fluffy ears.

「…So, I think that the 24th Dungeon is not so deep.」

「Ah! I see, I see, now I understand it perfectly. There won’t be a lot of Stratums because too much Magical Energy is being used on the Imitations, right?」

「Yes, but Spirits also have their own Magical Energy, so it’s hard to say exactly how much…」

I nodded in response to what Maggie said.

After that, our conversation continued for a while.

In the end, we have no choice but to proceed with the exploration.

Although the most important thing is to ensure the safety of the people in the vicinity, from the perspective of the company, the treasures that we are finding this time are also important… For us investigators, we are also concerned about the Trial of the Spirits that may be held at the deepest part of the Dungeon.

We disbanded and shared the information with our party.

We ate our meals and went into the tents to sleep.

Of course, it was separated by gender and the places were far apart.

In the middle of the night.

I woke up.

「……」

I usually cast Black Magic on myself for training. Not only will the effect and duration of the Black Magic get trained, but also the Magical Energy organ. Because of my master’s hellish training, it became possible for me to unconsciously control my Magical Energy.

That’s why I’m so sensitive to magical signatures.

I slipped out of the tent, left the camp, and entered the forest.

If I go too deep into the forest, I might get lost, but I’m familiar with this place and I can sense the Magical Energy of my comrade.

「Did I wake you?」

It was Merlin.

It’s shining. She’s not the one shining though.

It was a swarm of butterflies that glowed like the moonlight. It must be Merlin’s magic.

In the middle of the night, a Great Wizard created light butterflies and made them flutter around.

I’m not sure what’s going on here, and for a moment I suspected that I’m actually dreaming.

「…It’s beautiful.」

「Fufufu, thank you. But the real ones were even more beautiful.」

「The real ones…?」

「…Aah …Hmm, I was just thinking I’d like to talk to you. Would you like to hear my old story?」

And then the Wizard of Foresight began to speak.