Kays Translations

Chapter 188

This must be what people mean when they say “a world of difference.”

The instant we stepped into the dungeon, every other explorer on the lower floors stopped what they were doing and stepped aside, giving way for us to pass through.

Even on the third and fourth floors—where battles were actively taking place—explorers cleared the path, monsters recoiled in fear, and some even charged recklessly in desperation.
Those that did were swiftly shot down by Melt’s precise magic, and our group advanced through the dungeon at a steady, relentless and easy pace.

The reactions of people and monsters alike were completely different.
The determination radiating from this team—their intent to truly conquer this dungeon—instilled awe in humans and drove monsters into absolute madness.

“…Seeing that fires me up too.”

Clearing the way fell to Melt and me.
So, it seemed right that we set some rules between the two of us.

“Melt, can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Hmm? What is it?”

She turned toward me, her expression unusually sharp and focused.

“How about this—odd-numbered floors are yours, even-numbered floors are mine to handle.”
“I see… um, what’s an ‘odd-numbered’ floor?”
“…A number that can’t be divided evenly, I guess? To put it simply.”

Her expression instantly went back to normal—there’s the usual Melt.

“Got it! So, since we’re on the fifth floor now, it’s my turn!”
“Exactly. I’ll leave it to you.”

And so, without the slightest hesitation or slowdown, we continued clearing floor after floor.
Before long, the group stopped for a moment just before reaching the tenth floor—the place where we had started out that morning.

“The appearance of the Jupon last time was irregular. Normally, it’s a floor boss that appears much deeper down. It seems the overall monster distribution of this dungeon has shifted toward higher difficulty.”

“I welcome that. Squid.”

“Normally, the ones that spawn here are Evil Tuners, right? Those are quite easy to deal with.”

“Indeed. But we also have to consider the possibility of encountering a Fortress Clam.”

“If it’s another Jupon, we’ll use the same formation as before. If it’s a Tuner, we’ll leave it to Rivana. If it’s a Fortress, then the rear-line magic squad will roast it with fire. Melt, Shizuma—you two will join them and use fire magic as well.”

“Got it. Magic coordination shouldn’t be an issue for us at all.”
“Fire, huh? Alright. Mine will trigger a bit slower than the others, though.”
“Understood. Alright then, let’s move out.”

Melt’s magic manipulates existing elements within the environment.
That means she can’t use fire magic unless there’s already fire present—but conversely, once it is there, she can manipulate and even amplify it to any degree she wants.

We’d tested it before. She could make flames grow exponentially.

The moment everyone entered the floor where the boss awaited, the exit behind us was sealed by a shimmering membrane, meaning we can’t turn back unless we cleared it.
To retreat, we’d have to survive until it faded on its own—but of course, retreat simply wasn’t in this team’s vocabulary.

However—

“…This one’s a massive irregularity.”
“Something’s off. It looks like a Fortress Clam, but…”
“Probably a mutant of some kind. Some parts of it have turned inorganic.”

In the center of the floor sat a colossal bivalve.
It resembled the giant scallop-like monster Melt and I had defeated before—
but it was far larger, its shell no longer pearly white but a deep, ominous black.

Just as Rivana said, strange metallic fixtures—or perhaps mechanical parts—were embedded across its surface, giving it an unnatural, artificial look.

Geo Fortress Iron Golem Clam

A Fortress Clam that has enlarged and hardened.
It absorbed the iron components of equipment consumed by the dungeon, becoming half-golem.
Its shell has extreme heat and impact resistance, and it releases high-pressure water jets capable of slicing through enemies.

“Everyone, watch out for its water jets! Those could probably slice right through armor!”

Reading the description confirmed my fear.
It used attacks like water cutters—those ultra-high-pressure jets capable of cutting even metal, like the ones used in factories on Earth.

“Are you certain, Shizuma?”
“Absolutely certain, sir.”
“…Normally, this type counterattacks when struck. What’s our plan?”
“If it’s a variant, its behavior might differ. We should—”

Then, just for an instant, I caught a glimpse—the shell opening, barely perceptible.

Recognizing it as a sign, I reacted immediately.

“Ice Blade!”

I conjured a blade of ice and launched it with all my might.

A heartbeat later, the ice blade was sliced cleanly in two—
and the now-slightly-weakened water jet struck Gark’s massive shield as he leapt in front of me.

“Thanks for the save!”
“No, thank you!”
“The tell is when the shell opens for just a moment! Let’s restrict its movement with ice magic!”
“Understood! Magic squad, cover the monster with cold air! Everyone else, tighten formation and brace for the next strike!”

They swiftly rearranged formation, surrounding the creature in a storm of freezing wind.

Yes—if water freezes, its volume expands.
That should distort the tiny nozzles the creature used to create its cutting jets, reducing their power.

“I think this should greatly weaken its attacks. Now we just need a way to take it down.”
“Agreed. But I assume fire’s off the table for now?”

“Honestly, not sure. If we can keep freezing it, we might disable the nozzles it uses to fire the jets. But there’s a chance they regenerate—or that the parts themselves are made of metal. Still, if we trap it in this blizzard, it shouldn’t be able to use water attacks.”

“Hm… Rivana, try attacking it once.”
“Understood.”

At Araza’s command, Rivana dashed forward at blinding speed, moving so fast that even the freezing air couldn’t touch her— but the only result was a sharp metallic clang.

“Too hard. It’ll probably take multiple hits just to leave a scratch.”

At some point, she returned and gave her report, and I began to think.

Maybe now was the time for me to use my special attack.

But—

“…Magic team, half of you keep up the blizzard. The rest, prepare fire spells.”

“Hmm, hmm… Hey, Araza, Araza! I can switch from blizzard to fire in an instant, you know!”

“I see. Then join in with the fire when the timing’s right.”

Looks like they’re going to test the next plan.
In that case, I’ll go along with it too.

“I’ll join in with the fire.”

“That helps. Blizzard team, count to ten and then unleash your flames. Five seconds later, switch back to the blizzard.”

I understood what Araza was aiming for—
He was targeting the monster’s shell with rapid temperature changes, hoping to weaken it.

That might actually work.
Even if the shell survives, the living creature inside should take damage.

The countdown began, and I readied the most powerful fire spell I could use.

“Prominence Ray.”

A mid-level, short-range, straight-line fire spell.
Fires a beam of intense heat that burns the target and inflicts continuous flame damage.
Has the special effect of ignoring fire resistance.

This was my strongest long-range fire magic right now.
As the countdown reached its end—

“Three… two… one… Fire!!”

The blizzard stopped, and in the next instant, flames swirled violently around the giant shell.
My deep-crimson beam of fire struck the seam between the clamshell halves.

If I was lucky, maybe I could even weld it shut… but it only deformed slightly.
Damn it, how heat-resistant is this thing? Even with resistance-ignoring magic!

Then Melt joined in, and the fire’s intensity surged.
But maybe because the ice had melted, the shellfish monster started moving again—
its massive shell trembled, trying to open.

Immediately, another blizzard erupted, and Melt joined the effort, flash-freezing the creature once more.

“Rivana, one more time.”

“Understood. Melt, come with me.”

“Eh? Got it!”

The two of them dashed forward at blinding speed toward the sluggish, refrozen monster.
Their silhouettes crossed in front of it—and a shrill, splintering sound rang out.

“It broke! It broke!!”

“Melt, don’t let your guard down—cut the inside, too!”

The shell, now completely brittle, shattered before their attacks.
Exposed and defenseless, the clam’s body was mercilessly slashed apart.
It didn’t even scream—just quietly disintegrated into motes of light and vanished.

“Amazing… I’ve never seen this many drop items before.”

“There’s a lot of equipment here. Maybe that’s because it was a partially metal variant?”

“Highly likely. Hmm… Rejoice, Gark. There’s clam meat here.”

“! What a colossal scallop muscle…!”

“…No, this one’s even better. This might be quite the windfall.”

As I watched them sort through the drops after defeating the floor boss, the two found something that caught their attention. Curious, I used Divine Eye to examine it.

‘Adductor Muscle of the Iron Fortress’

A rare clam muscle harvested from a mutated clam-type monster.

Composed of extremely strong muscle fibers, though its original properties are lost.

Its toughness weakens when heated, making it suitable for cooking.

However, if sliced correctly along the grain, it can even be eaten raw.

‘Treasure of the Iron Fortress’

A black pearl rarely obtained from mutated clam-type monsters.

Its composition has changed due to mutation, giving it a distinctive dark luster.

Its massive size and rare coloration make it immeasurably valuable.

This was… quite the treasure. The kind of item that could probably go for a fortune at an auction.

And the other one looked like an enormous scallop muscle — unbelievably huge.

…Come to think of it, wasn’t that Gark’s favorite food?

“A fine weapon dropped. I’ll exchange my dagger for this one.”

“Wow! So many weapons dropped this time!”

Apparently, a large number of weapons and armor had dropped as well. Rivana picked out one particular dagger from among them, sheathed it, and replaced her old one.

I see—perhaps the blade from her previous weapon got chipped during the earlier battle.

『Flashblade Impale Edge』

A short sword imbued with the properties of various materials absorbed by the dungeon.
The finest specimens bear an inscription.
An extremely hard and durable weapon.
— Critical Hit Rate ×2
— Physical Resistance Reduction
— Capable of Striking Non-Physical Entities

That’s an incredible find.
From the look of it, it’s effective against both physically tough enemies and incorporeal foes like ghosts.
A weapon perfectly suited to Rivana.

“All right. Once we’re done checking the drops, let’s move on. This was only the first floor boss—barely the start. But… if a variant this strong appeared already, it might mean the dungeon—or rather, the Dungeon Master—is aware of us.”

“Agreed. It feels like we’re being deliberately matched against stronger opponents.”

“Could be. This dungeon has always felt like it’s being watched.”

Before setting off for the next level, the top three members of Killcrawler shared their thoughts.

Honestly, I felt the same.
But at the same time… I couldn’t help wondering if the difficulty had simply increased automatically because other dungeons were cleared.

It’s a bit of a game-like theory, but in games where you can tackle areas in any order, the later ones often scale in difficulty.

So, I suggested that maybe the recent clearings of Scorched Valley and Lindwurm’s Den might have triggered this rise in difficulty.

“That’s possible. This dungeon is notorious for reacting to our actions — setting traps or changing its environment at the worst possible moments. On top of being harder, we might also be facing targeted interference.”

“I see… then we’d better watch what we say aloud.”

“Exactly. There’s a chance we’re being listened to.”

Being listened to…?
So that’s possible too, huh?

With that unsettling thought lingering, we continued our descent.

The next floor boss would appear on the 20th floor.
I could only hope we made it there safely—

“Ah, it’s the 11th floor, so it’s my turn! All right, I’ll do my best!”

And with that cheerful declaration from Melt, we left the floor behind.

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