Chapter 17

While big sis went to give instructions to the explorers, I kept cutting down the monsters pouring out of the dungeon without pause.

Even so, the ground continued to shake, and at first I thought it was just the tremors from the marching horde of monsters.

But contrary to that assumption, I began to feel that the number of monsters emerging from the great pit was actually decreasing.

And yet, the vibrations only grew stronger—so strong it was hard just to stay standing.

This reclaimed land shook violently, and the tremors sent waves rolling through the surrounding sea.

The waves crashing against the shore grew larger and larger, and seawater was already reaching the ground. It was clearly abnormal.

“…Something’s coming.”

I could no longer believe this was just the rumbling of a monster army.

Then—from the great pit, the entrance to the dungeon—came the screams of countless monsters.

It was obvious that something was happening inside the dungeon. Bracing myself for some unimaginable calamity, I raised my sword and fixed my glare on the pit.

What kind of monster would come climbing up the slope?

As big sis had said, with the dungeon’s rules and boundaries still undefined, anything could happen.

I prepared for the worst. What if… a ‘Branch Dungeon Lord’-class enemy appears—

“…You’ve got to be kidding me. It went beyond even the worst case I imagined!”

What appeared was a monster I had never seen before.

A giant-type, I thought. They don’t normally appear in branch dungeons, but this was a type that had been confirmed in the past as a boss appearing at the “internal divisions” of the Japan Common Dungeon.

Cyclopes. Giant orcs. Hecatoncheires. The domestically classified ogre-type “Oni.”
All monsters categorized as “giants,” boasting enormous physiques.

But what emerged this time had two heads, and a body that looked to be over ten meters tall.

A monster I didn’t recognize. Yet at a glance, it was clear it possessed power far beyond what humans could oppose.

Still—the reason I judged this to be the worst kind of unexpected threat, beyond even whether it could be defeated at all, lay elsewhere.

“…A pale blue aura leaking from its entire body… it’s oppressive, yet I can’t feel any emotion from it. Its eyes are vacant… it’s just moving.”

If my guess—my observation—was correct, then this gigantic monster was a Heaven-Ascent Type.

Someone once described it as resembling an angel descended from the heavens, seized by fury.

True to the origin of its name, this huge body should possess a violence beyond imagination—yet what I felt from it now was only nothingness.

No emotion. No intent. It simply existed there.

And yet, without a doubt, this creature would not tolerate the existence of anything other than itself.

After all, none of the other monsters that had been writhing inside the dungeon were appearing anymore.

Then, amid the pile of monster corpses stacked up as if to block the entrance, it spotted a monster that still seemed to be alive—and, with a completely natural motion, grabbed it and crushed it in one hand.

There was no sadism, no pleasure in it. The two-headed monster didn’t change its expression in the slightest as it began walking toward its next target.

That target was me.

“…Where’s the weak point? If I cut off the heads, will that do it? How am I supposed to jump high enough to reach…?”

Running away was not an option. It was a premonition.

If I fled here, this monster would unquestionably slaughter countless people, trample everything, and bring about an irreversible disaster.

My instincts told me this was an enemy that had to be brought down here—even if it meant dying together.

“I wanted to survive until April… but—well, if I win here, that solves everything.”

I ran. First, I had to see whether it could keep up with my speed.

The massive body, illuminated by the lights, seemed to lose sight of me as I darted through the darkness. For a brief moment, it stopped moving, turning its heads as it searched its surroundings.

It being night worked in my favor. Like this… if things went well, I might be able to keep it confused—and even take away its mobility.

That was when it happened.

A sharp female voice cut through the darkness, as if slicing it apart—putting a stop to my long-term plan.

“Master! Leave the diversion and immobilization to us! Please prepare your strongest blow! Detonate that technique you used earlier directly inside its body! I will mark the spot to aim for!”

It was big sis, who had returned, now leading more than a dozen explorers who had gathered in the meantime.

Hearing her words—still spoken while playing the role of a cool, obedient maid—almost made me laugh for a moment, but I understood immediately.

What I had been trying to do alone—confuse the enemy with my footwork—she was now accomplishing on a larger scale by deploying many explorers around it.

And then… at the right moment, she was planning to manipulate the hemp ropes to somehow make the monster fall.

I didn’t think ropes like that could really do anything to such a massive body.

But if it was her… maybe she could. Just thinking that was enough.

I knew how strong she was.

In my previous life, as my mentor, she had overturned my expectations with her “impossible” ideas more times than I could count.

It was because someone like her taught me that I had made it to this life at all.

I had been thinking I might lose—that we might kill each other.

And yet now… it felt as though the future where I lost to this thing, the fate where I died here, had completely vanished.

The many explorers ran freely around the monster in the dark, their forms intermittently illuminated by the lights.

Though it seemed emotionless, it apparently found them irritating. I could see it stomping its feet from time to time, trying to crush the humans around it.

“That’s… I see. So that’s it.”

For a moment, one of the giant’s legs lifted and was lit by the lights, and I saw countless hemp cords sprouting from it.

Like decorations, huge numbers of hemp ropes were growing from the giant’s shins. The other leg was probably the same.

Big sis must have attached a massive amount of hemp rope to the monster in advance—and then—

“In an instant, braid the ropes on both legs into thick cables… yeah. That’s something she could pull off.”

I gripped my sword with both hands instead of one.

Not in a reverse grip, but a standard grip, raised high overhead as I focused my mind.

Normally, the sword was designed to be usable like a dagger with one hand.

But for moments like this, I had been told in my previous life—by her—to make the hilt large enough to wield with both hands, when I had it reforged.

“…You really do end up in situations like this, huh. You’re an outstanding maid… my partner, truly.”

At that moment, the monster’s body suddenly lurched violently.

Its legs must have been bound together, throwing it off balance.

And then—

“Master! I’ll knock it onto its back! Finish it with the killing blow!”

Big sis suddenly leapt high from the monster’s feet, flying straight toward its abdomen and driving a powerful punch into it.

It was a strike known as “Hakkei”, a kind of secret technique.

A tremendous impact was focused into a single point, and the monster—already off balance—was indeed knocked onto its back.

Even so, from what I could see, being toppled by the shock didn’t seem to deal any obvious damage.

I sprinted at full speed.

I jumped onto the monster’s leg and ran. I ran across its body as it lay on its back. Using its abdomen like a trampoline, I launched myself high into the air—

“You’re seriously too skillful.”

Below me, the monster’s arms and legs were stitched to the ground with enormous amounts of hemp rope.

And on the upper part of its abdomen, just above the solar plexus, there was a target mark—like a double circle—embroidered onto its skin with hemp rope, no doubt placed there by big sis.

The instant I saw it, I switched my grip to a reverse hold and raised my sword to drive it down.

“This ends now!”

I drew the sword back so far I arched my body in midair, and with no footing at all, I poured everything into the tip of the blade, feeling the flow of power as I plunged it with all my might into the monster’s chest.

It was a strange sensation—like plunging a knife into tofu, with no resistance at all.

Then, a split second later, I felt a heavy thud as all the force finally transferred into the target.

But—

“Ah!”

From the impact, the sword snapped cleanly at the base.

And perhaps because the damage hadn’t fully carried through, the monster writhed violently, spewing massive amounts of blood as it struggled to break free of the restraints.

“Damn it, still not enough—”

That was when it happened.

“Ahhh, see? That’s what happens when you overwork your sword. You should really learn to fight in a way that treats your weapon a bit more kindly! Anyway, big sis is going to take the tasty part this time~”

Before I knew it, big sis was right beside me. She thrust her fist toward the broken cross-section of my sword.

With a violent vibration, the snapped-off blade was driven deep into the monster’s body.

A few moments later—

Big sis and I landed on the ground.

Yes—the monster’s body had vanished.

“Guess it couldn’t maintain a body that huge outside the dungeon~. Or maybe… the ambient mana in the air thinned out, so the corpse scattered more easily?”

When I looked around, not only that giant body but also the countless corpses that had been strewn about were gone as well.

Which meant only one thing—

We had completely won.

“Ugh! Akira… sorry… my head hurts… looks like big sis leveled up…!”

“Ah! Me too! It wasn’t the last hit, but… does that mean I’m counted as defeating it too?!”

“D-do your best, Akira! Just a bit more—there, there’s a magic stone over there! A huge Heaven-Ascent Type magic stone…! Big sis…! Sell that… and buy… a gaming PC…!”

“At a time like this, what are you even saying…?!”

The two of us clutched our heads as we staggered over to collect the magic stone.

Even at a moment like this… feeling reassured by big sis being her usual self, I finally lost to the splitting headache and let my consciousness fade.