Evan D. Sherden, Went Beyond Bounds (1)

It had been two weeks since they entered the dungeon. Evan was communicating with Louise, who returned to the ground after the dungeon expedition.

“Did you get back safely? What’s the report?”

—Renail’s job changed on the 10th floor. Surprisingly, her mana seems to have been given new characteristics. It’s purple mana…She was grumbling that she wasn’t the original.

“…Purple mana? Isn’t that original?”

He had heard of the mana somewhere, but why was it suddenly there…? Evan momentarily looked back at Belois and the others before continuing.

“Any changes in Renail’s thinking or behavior?”

—I think she is resembling Save. Sometimes when I’m listening to them talking, I feel like I’m going insane.

“…What the hell are you guys doing?”

—I’d like to ask you that, Sir…

Because Louise’s voice seemed to be seriously distressed, Evan decided not to ask any more questions about it.

However, as Belois’ last change in mana was also related to him, it should be kept in mind that there may have been a ‘one-sided’ contact between Renail and himself.

“Anything else? Nothing else other than the schedule, is there?”

—Yes, sir. I signed an exclusive contract with the Phoenix Guild, so I’m in charge of their requests professionally. We haven’t met the guild master yet, but we have a guild member dedicated to us.

“I’ve told Eloa, so there won’t be problems in cooperating with them. Let’s continue to build a good relationship with them and develop together. The next dungeon will be in two weeks. I want you to meet the conditions I’ve offered until then.”

—I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, Sir, when will you return to the ground…?

“Me?”

Evan seemed to be mumbling at the words and looked back at the group. They had gathered in a circle and were discussing something seriously.

“Then from now on, we will decide who will catch the 65th floor Hidden Boss.”

“Let’s play poker.”

“Let’s just draw lots.”

“Isn’t it clear that you and Commander and Mirole are out? Wouldn’t it be fun to watch a real fight?”

“Then let’s mix up the pile only when they pull it out.”

“… It’s more intense than the battle.”

Despite exploring the dungeon for two weeks, the group didn’t look tired.

Although the deep floors’ difficulty had been lower than initially expected due to Merdin Dungeon’s absence in the dungeon fusion, the party’s increased skills and the dragon by-product artifacts were doing more than their part.

‘Of course, when I entered the dungeon, I was determined to go to at least the 70th floor.’

When he finished his dungeon exploration this time, he would be busy for the time being because it was a new crack or scenario. So, he was going to do his best. But the dungeon wasn’t as difficult as he thought, and the party was so lively…

“I think we’ll stay in the dungeon for at least another month.”

—Oh, I see…

It sounded a bit regrettable. Evan understood Louise; he, too, would have found another place to rely on if his party had only fanatics who spoke nonsense every day.

He couldn’t understand why it happened like this, although he must have started it somehow.

“Cheer up, Louise. If there is any result, I’ll make sure you get the reward.”

—…Yes, I’ll be looking forward to it.

Evan cut off the communication with Louise, who quickly responded with a recovered voice despite Evan’s poor consolation after exchanging greetings one last time. Then, he contacted Miriam this time. Miriam received his call as if she had been waiting.

—Evan. Is this dungeon trip getting longer? Your father’s very worried.

“The deep floors can take a long time to explore compared to the lower dungeon floors, but there’s no problem, so don’t worry. We have to go down to at least the 80th floor to get dangerous monsters.”

—I see, 80th floor…Do you know, Evan? It’s an unprecedented area.

“It’s okay; my party members and I are unprecedented, too.”

Miriam would probably faint when she found out that Evan’s party had to wake up Hidden Boss, who could overwhelm the floor master and send only one of the party members to fight against it.

Evan decided to skip the details of the dungeon expedition for her mental health.

“How’s work going?”

—Well, I should say it’s only in shape. Now that you’ve entered the dungeon, we’ve got a lot of crime in the underworld… Well, I’m still not satisfied because there are other Astray members, and I’m afraid you’ll be able to get out of the dungeon anyhow.

“This time, I’m going to be in the dungeon for a long time, so I’ll be fine. Please gather them while talking in the same way that you have heard such information, Mother Miriam.”

—It’s like a separate collection…Are you sure you’ll be okay? I heard that the deeper the dungeon goes, the harder it gets even to breathe.

Evan listened to her and took a deep breath on the spot. He could smell the sea, the thick soil, the dense demonic energy, and mana. There was no problem even if he was asked to stay there forever.

“Don’t worry. It’s much easier to breathe than a party hall full of aristocratic young children.”

—I know you like dungeons, but you know Liz’s education is important, right? You have to get back to the ground by the time the operation starts.

“Of course. I look forward to your kind cooperation. Say hello to my mother.”

Evan, who finished his talk with Louise and Miriam, sighed and returned to the group. It was after they had already decided who would fight the 65th floor’s hidden boss alone. It was Anastasia, who was shaking while grabbing the staff.

“Can I do this? I lack training compared to the rest of you…!”

“I believe in Asha. If I have to add some nonsense, I believe in the artifacts that Asha is wearing.”

“The 65th floor’s hidden boss is a monster that assimilates with nature. You deal with the power of the natural world. It’s the perfect match.”

“But…uh, I see. I will do my best to be with Shine and the Knights!”

Already, Astray’s official joining condition seemed to have been raised to clearing the deep floor’s hidden boss alone. This was why the Knights might have to close immediately after the retirement of the current Knights.

Evan sighed and controlled the members.

“Of course, I’ll let Anastasia hunt alone, but we’re all in the boss room. As long as the dungeon has changed differently from what I knew, I don’t will be.”

“I’ve heard it a few times, and I’ve gotten used to it. Come on, let’s go in!”

The hidden boss that originally appeared on the 65th floor was the sand whale mummy.

It was a terrible monster created by the fusion of dungeons with miraculous possibilities, a legendary and mythological realm! Its strength was purely comparable to/or slightly above the 85th-floor general boss.

However, the mummy was an undead whose difficulty varied from extremes depending on its preservation status, and its important preservation status was randomly determined. So, the Hidden Boss on the 65th floor was also famous for its difficulty changing every time. Most users who wanted to play no-die clear used to be reluctant to clear hidden bosses because of the boss’ presence.

—Ahhhhhh!

Now that the Merdin Dungeon was missing from the deep floor fusion, the sand whale mummy, which is not a typical mummy, had a surprisingly higher status than the game. Most monsters became undead and stronger, with the sand whale mummy belonging to a classification that didn’t.

Its size, its spewing mana, and above all, the vast area of the Boss Room proved it!

“Merdin’s absence has had such a side effect…!”

Evan, who knew it as soon as he had entered the Hidden Boss battle room, tried to get the troops ready for battle, but he didn’t have to.

As soon as she entered the boss room that looked like a vast desert, Anastasia glowed and stepped forward.

“Oh, if it’s sand, fortunately, I can do something about it!”

– Shaaaaah

So large it could swallow the entire Astray Knights’ headquarters in Sherden, the sand whale cut through the boss room with a cry as if the grains were being swept away by seawater. But Anastasia, who stood up against it, stretched out her arms, holding out the Dragon Staff.

“Split!”

The Dragon Staff shone brightly at Anastasia’s declaration, and Anastasia’s Witch Rune sympathized with her and emitted light…The sea of the sand split and the whale plunged to the bottom of a distant dungeon.

– Shaaaaaa!

“Wow…”

Evan let out an exclamation. He vaguely recognized that the Dragon Staff had strengthened Anastasia, but no matter how vast the dungeon was, it wasn’t much to realize it because it was just a playground to her.

No matter how much convergence it was, she couldn’t touch the structures that were too unnatural, artificial, or possessed too much of the Demons’ power.

– Saaaaaaaaaah!

“Unite!”

But how was it now? The entire instantaneous space, which became a natural environment utterly unaffected by the structure, followed Anastasia’s will.

Druid is harmonious with nature, but now she looks like a queen who rules nature.

Evan clapped at the magnificent sight. If it were him, he would never have done such a thing. He would have annihilated the structurer.

“Asha was normal until she came to Sherden.”

Shine, meanwhile, was mumbling with grief at the scene. It sounded like she became abnormal because of Evan, so he decided to hit Shine for now.

– Shaaaaaaah!

As Evan was hitting Shine, the sand whale was in a full-fledged struggle with Anastasia.

The sand whale was a legendary monster that could assimilate and manipulate sand. He unleashed all his mana to wrestle control from Anastasia.

The vast boss room shook as if an earthquake hit it, and the deep dungeon floor revealed its insides in protest to devour the whole party. The group hurriedly boarded the platform of the wind created by Arisha and Mirole.

“No more…tear off!”

– Shaaaaaaaaaah!

It was just then. At the moment when it was relatively vulnerable as it poured all its energy into controlling the sand, Anastasia gave off her power.

Yes, the sand whale was a monster of nature; even its body was made of sand. Anastasia intended to make its defenses vulnerable so she could attack his body directly!

– Shaaaaaaaaa…!

The sand whale belatedly realized the true nature of her power and struggled to resist, but the Druid’s mana, triggered by the Dragon’s dominance, was already covering its entire body.

Right after the monster foresaw its end, the dark natural mana covered its whole body…and made it scatter.

Anastasia, who confirmed its death, turned straight to the party and shouted with a bright face.

“What a relief. I can go anywhere now and proudly say that I’m a member of the Astray Knights!”

“So, you’ve been worried about that, huh…?”

Since the sand whale didn’t appear in the Yo-Ma Great War Series, so of course, it left rewards that didn’t appear in the games either.

It was a pendant with sand whale decorations. All the members unanimously agreed to give it to Anastasia. It was partly because she hunted it herself, but it was also a useful artifact that could amplify her power to deal with nature.

“The 65th floor’s Hidden Boss’ accessories don’t fall short of dragon artifacts. Yeah, I was giving up because it’s too unlikely, but it’s worth the challenge…!”

Then, Evan started to burn again with the task he had given up.

More than a week later, the party arrived safely on the 70th floor of the dungeon.

The moment was approaching when the group’s dungeon level would rise.