Chapter 88: The Spectacle of The Bottom Floor

The trio kept advancing. Yuuma tried his best to preserve both his 『Metallization』 and 『Bloody Ore』.

They chose the route where they wouldn’t meet any monster along the way on the floor that they cleared before, and cooperated with the president in case they met a monster. As a result, they reached the 80th floor at record-breaking speed.

「Well then, the 80th floor is the deepest floor that JSDF managed to reach years ago. After passing this floor, we will become the record holder of the deepest dungeon diving in Yokohama’s dungeon!」

「NOW LET’S GO!」 Said Aisha as she walked in front of the two.

The president and Yuuma who were walking behind her were heaving a sigh.

「She’s the actual baggage of this party but…」

「It’s not like we can do anything about that part, she’s our client after all.」

The president agreed with a displeased look on his face after hearing Yuuma’s remark.

「But president, can we really reach the bottom floor in one day?」

「Well the dungeons aren’t that wide after all. It’s possible to reach the bottom floor in one day. If we’re not fighting against monsters, that’s it.」

「I see now.」

「But Yuuma, if you can already use liquid metal with such ease, you shouldn’t need pickel anymore right?」

The president asked Yuuma curiously.

「No, actually there’s a limit on how much the amount of liquid metal I can use, that’s why it’ll be easier for me if I have some sort of weapon to act as the basic shape.」

「U~hm, I see now.」

「If possible, I wish the pickel has a longer handle, and it’ll be easier to handle if the angle of the head changed…」

Suddenly, Aisha cuts into the two after hearing their conversation.

「Yuuma-kun, I can prepare a suitable weapon for you.」

「Eh, really?」

「My research institute was originally a metalworking factory after all. There’s tools and machinery left on the first floor. And since I’m quite dextrous as well, I can make you a weapon using those machineries.」

「Ah, thank you.」

「I should be the one who thanked you. It’s thanks to your help that I might be able to uncover the mystery around the 『Black Dungeon』.」

「Mystery around the black dungeon?」

「Yes. Properly speaking, the black dungeon is clearly different from the other dungeons. Many people still regard it as a useless dungeon but, I do think that this dungeon has its’ own role.」

「What do you mean by… Role?」

「Finding that is the theme of my research. And you’re the keyman for that. That’s why I wish for your cooperation in the future too, Yuuma-kun.」

Yuuma and co hastened their pace while feeling uncomfortable to see such kind, Aisha.

◇◇◇

「The number of monsters really decreased.」

Yuuma muttered to the president while looking at his surroundings. They had already crossed the 100th floor and just entered the 101st floor.

Aisha was right, the deeper they dive into the black dungeon, the easier for them to go down. But――

「Be quiet!」

The president’s gait came to a halt and he hid behind the rock immediately. Yuuma held his breath and followed immediately.

「Yuuma… Take a look.」

Yuuma looked timidly at the direction pointed by the president. In the innermost part of the cave was a huge lizard-like monster with its limbs sprawled around, and cliff-like rock on its back.

With its eyes shut tight, it looks no different from any other huge and realistic giant stone statue.

「I-Is that a, monster?」

「Yes. Maybe much bigger than the golem you defeated back then.」

“Much” is an understatement. Its’ head might reach the ceiling if it stood on its feet.

　Like hell, I can fight something like that. It looks dead at a glance but its body moves lightly.

　It must be breathing.

Yuuma and co left that place very quietly, trying their best to kill their footstep so that they wouldn’t rouse the sleeping monster by accident.

Upon descending even further down, the trio saw many unforgettable spectacles along the way.

Once, they felt there was an earthquake but the moment they raised their faces, they realized that the tremor came from thirty meters high black “Buffalo”-like monster’s footsteps.

They kept hiding behind the rock, walking very carefully, and slowly to prevent the buffalo from detecting them.

On another floor, they saw a giant Hercules beetle-like monster with a splendid horn. Their entire body was wrapped in iridescent carapace, even Yuuma couldn’t help but marvel upon seeing such splendid Hercules beetles.

On another floor, they saw hundreds of black bats literally hanging upside down on the ceiling, painting the ceiling in black.

Each bat was around three meters tall. The trio was smart enough to proceed even more carefully than before as a small mishap might cost their life, namely lynched to death by numerous bats.

Anyhow, they tried to avoid combat and went down straight to the lower floor.

And then, the proof was――

「Guys, look at that!!」

Aisha pointed with her finger to a certain direction with a thrilled look on her face. When Yuuma and the president turned around following the direction of her finger while wondering what she saw, they saw a black-winged monster, the “Black Dragon”.

「Ma~n, it’s rare to see a dragon. We’re lucky!」

Aisha took a snapshot with her smartphone. Though she didn’t use the flash function of her smartphone, both Yuuma and the president were breaking cold sweat imagining what would happen if the Black Dragon reacted to the snapped sound of the smartphone.

「U~h, the picture is blurry… Shall we come closer?」

The president grabbed Aisha who tried to approach the Black Dragon by the nape of her neck and pulled her away.

「Let me go Kotaro! I want to observe the ecology of the Black Dragon from a close-up.」

「Shut up! Are you trying to get all of us killed?」

The president kept his vice grip on Aisha’s neck until they arrived on the next floor, Aisha was extremely dejected when he finally let her go.

「Someone said that the Black Dragon might be the only one who dropped black diamond magic ore. But no one can confirm that fact since no human can defeat that Black Dragon. Think about it, don’t you two want to see the black diamond?」

Both Yuuma and the president were left dumbfounded by her remark. Both of them thought silently that Aisha might be the ONLY human who wanted to observe that kind of monster from close up.

Even just looking at the silhouette from over the rock was enough to convince them that the “Black Dragon” was an extremely terrifying monster.

Even a rookie like Yuuma knew just how dangerous a dragon was. The president pulled Aisha who was still grumbling in front of the stairs.

◇◇◇

『Black Dungeon』 147th Floor――

It took Yuuma and co a whole fourteen hours of diving while sneaking in after the middle layer to reach the bottom floor of the dungeon.

That place was a vast open space seemingly made of several floors combined together. There was stalactite hung down from the ceiling, some even long and big enough to reach the floor and be mistaken as a stone pillar.

The floor was far brighter than the other floor, albeit with white mist covering the entire floor.

That mist covered the entire floor, dyeing the floor with ominous, pale red color.

Yuuma and co went down a steep slope attached to the wall and went further into the bottom floor.

「What an… Ominous place. Is this the bottom of the dungeon?」

Yuuma asked curiously as he walked. When he looked around, he saw that the red and white mist was covering the entire floor.

「No doubt about it. Speaking about the number of floors, there should be a 148th floor but this place was vast enough to fit 3~4 floors in it. So properly speaking, the depth of the entire dungeon rivaled that of 151st floor.」

Aisha spoke happily as soon as they arrived on this floor.

「We should be able to find them on this floor… The guardian who protects the last floor of this dungeon.」

At that moment, a chill ran down both the president’s and Yuuma’s spines.

――Yes, I literally forgot about that guy. The last boss on the bottom floor of the dungeon!

Yuuma gripped his pickel, ready for any ambush.

「Let’s try to look at the said monster first and come back as soon as you take the photograph of that monster. In the worst situation, if we try to fight that monster and are defeated by it, we’re really in big trouble.」

Contrary to Aisha who spoke with great delight, Yuuma and the president kept looking around so as to not miss a single sign of the enemy’s presence.

「Let me take the lead.」

The president walked in the front followed by Yuuma and Aisha. They were looking at the road ahead while hiding behind the shade of the rock.

There, on the other side of the red and white mist… Something was wriggling.