"─!"
Again, the rusty knight kicked up the ground with a big sword in his hand.
This time, instead of a linear trajectory, they jump up as they say and try to attack the river from the upper stage.
Mizue takes a half-step back.
"─!"
The rusty knight sounded as if it was his escape.
However, Mizue quickly jumped on the spot.
"Fukuyama-san!
"" Laoshomon, Kokai ""
Calling the name Fukuyama at the same time as the leap, Rayomon's defensive wall appeared to block the trajectory of the Great Sword and the Mizue River.
Mizue held a serial sword in his non-dominant left hand and grabbed a rusty knight's leg with his right hand.
As if he was still riding, he walked into the back of a rusty knight with a pendulum and shook his sword to the side in an attempt to knock off the joints of his feet at once.
"Whoa!
The sophisticated Mizue fencing sword slashed the rusty knight's knee from the back and the boss lost his strength.
The river landed on the nearby ground with the momentum of crossing.
Gashaan, the rusty knight landed with an incredible noise, but he fell on the spot because his leg was slashed.
"Yaah!
As Tachibana approached, she pierced the spear into the joint part of her left elbow and shook it through.
When the black blood splashed, the rusty knight, whose limbs had been cut, fell down on the spot without any force.
Together, the two men severed all the limbs of the rusty knight.
"This is the last time!
As soon as Mizue spared a minute and a second from landing, she stood up and ran towards the rusty knight.
Looking down at the rusty knight lying down without force in front of him, he placed a serial sword with his hot eyes.
He then stabbed a serial sword in the gap between the helmet and the neck to drop the incision.
"─!?
At that moment, a rusty knight's voice sounded like a wooden spirit in the boss area.
Rusty, silver-coloured full plates glued with unknown forces are scattered apart, and something like black, mellow blood comes out of the gap.
There was a little quiet in the boss area.
Soon afterwards, the boss's body began to decompose from the edge.
A small, one-centimetre-sized black crucifix rises and is sucked into the ceiling of the dungeon.
Good!
"You did it!
Mizue and Tachibana felt the joy of defeating the boss for the first time.
While spreading the sweat scratched in the battle, he was hitting high with full joy without worrying about the difference between men and women.
Fukuyama and Kusatsu are approaching.
"Good work. No, I beat you faster than I thought. In the meantime, congratulations on the first boss crusade, both of you. Even if you had a super strong shield, that would be enough."
"It's amazing! Both of you."
Kusatsu squeezed his flank painfully, but both smiled.
As they watched, Mizue and Tachihua rushed to Kusatsu and lent their shoulders to sit on the ground immediately.
"Hey, are you okay? A flank bone?
"Yeah, I think it's cracked. Sorry, right?"
"No, my instructions were wrong. I'm responsible for mistaking my boss for his powers. If I had relied on Fukuyama-san from the beginning, this wouldn't have happened."
Kusatsu apologized and lowered his head so that Mizue could wear it.
Although there may have been a misdirection, it would be a good thing to be proud that you were able to defeat only a flank crack with your first boss.
So, this boss crusade is quite remarkable even in general terms.
The air that was about to become negative was ripped apart, and a puff of dry sound was sounded.
"Yes, that's enough to apologize for. In the meantime, Kusatsu should immediately use the Transfer Crystal to return to Chariot's main business. Get medical attention there."
"Ah, eh... but..."
"You can't squeeze a waste. The injury needs to be treated immediately, and there are many things wrong with it."
"I... I can still do it!
Fukuyama's words are a substantial "rejection" declaration.
Passing this exam is only a sub-dungeon strategy.
It was highly likely that Kusatsu would fail to be returned here.
Mizue and Tachihua, who heard the words, were waiting for Fukuyama's next words with the expression that they didn't know what to do.
"No, I haven't decided to pass yet. First, return to the main office for medical treatment. It's not a request, it's an order from me, right? Or can't you take orders from your leader?
For parties and raids, leaders are absolute.
It is only natural for the Explorer to follow his instructions, like the Five Ways.
"I see...."
Asked how to behave as an explorer, Kusatsu chewed his lower lip with regret, but shook his neck vertically.
The expression appeared to have an unspeakable side, combining a clear side with an irrationality that did not reach the goal.
So Mizue answered to Fukuyama.
Kusatsu hasn't passed yet?
"Well, I haven't decided yet. If someone on your team were to attack you... well, I can't say any more. No, you scold me for talking too much. I'm getting angry, I'm getting angry."
It was Fukuyama who started laughing to deceive, but the words were certainly words of hope to the participants.
― ― If someone on your team tries to pass or fail.
What that means.
If even one of us can achieve the goal, the whole team will have a chance to pass.
Aware of that fact, Mizue and Tachihua bent their gaze on Kusatsu with a clearer expression than they thought, and dared to laugh.
"We'll take care of the rest. I really saved Kusatsu's shield so far, I don't think I would have come here without you. See you on the ground again."
"That's right! I can't see Kusatsu as another person anymore! We're going to the final exam together!
"... yeah, thank you. Then I'll be back before it gets in my way."
Kusatsu turned into a slightly happy face.
Then, he held the "Transfer Crystal" received from Fukuyama and muttered "Transfer."
In an instant, my body began to glow pale. When the little noise sounded, Kusatsu's appearance had already disappeared from the scene.
The Transfer Crystal is a very expensive substitute.
It is an item that can be moved instantly to a pre-set location, and the advanced Explorer always carries it.
However, this could only be used on the ground or in sub-dungeons.
The main dungeon is inhibited by some force or cannot be transferred to a designated location, which results in a random transfer to somewhere in the dungeon.
Kusatsu is now using a Grade 4 Transfer Crystal, an item with a maximum transfer distance of no more than 3 kilometers. The price is about 500,000 yen each.
Perhaps the transfer location is set in that tent at the entrance.
"Well... oh, I forgot to return Kusatsu's iron sword. Well, I'll give it back later! So, everyone in the 26th group! Good work!
Fukuyama said so with a cheerful voice when Kusatsu disappeared.
"So far?
In that way, the river was a little caught up.
You don't have to use the word "so far," just say "tired," but Fukuyama sounded strangely emphasizing the word "so far."
Surprisingly, Fukuyama's handsome milestone looks creepy.
"Yeah, if we go a little further, this sub-dungeon is over. About 50 meters from here? There's an end gate that serves as an exit to the sub-dungeon. So, I think you're tired, but we're almost there! Good luck!"
Tachibana picked up the word "over" and was happy from the bottom of her heart.
Tachibana thought that Kusatsu had been returned and that this sub-dungeon could still continue.
The basic structure of the sub-dungeon is said to exist from the first boss area to at most the fourth boss area. That's why I expected two more boss fights.
However, Fukuyama said it was almost a goal.
This means that the current boss area was the last boss area in this sub-dungeon.
"- Let's go! Mizue-kun! Almost there."
Yeah, let's go.
Mizue's reply was somehow unsure.
Head for the exit that somehow appeared in the second boss area while being pulled by the cheerful and slightly natural Tachibana.
The exit from the boss area appears at the end of the fight.
It appears when a door other than the entrance is noticed. If we dive there, we'll move on to the next dungeon.
When I noticed it, it was because nobody had ever seen the exit of the boss room appear.
Researchers may describe this as "deliberately inaccessible."
So they slip through the exit of the boss's room.
About fifty meters away, I found an end gate leading to the ground.
A sub-dungeon typically begins the collapse phase of the sub-dungeon by opening the end gate at the far end of the dungeon and passing through it by anyone.
Over the next week or so, the sub-dungeon gates gradually narrowed and eventually vanished into a squeeze.
Using a grace period of one week after an attack, it is customary for an Alliance to collect Magic Ore and materials from monster carcasses.
"That's the end gate, right? I've seen it several times in the photos, but I still feel the atmosphere when I actually see it... it's a horrible scare."
Tachibana looked at the black gate she captured in front of her eyes and unexpectedly leaked her feelings.
The entrance gate to the sub-dungeon is "white" regardless of grade.
And no matter what grade the exit is, it's decided to be "black."
Conversely, they say the entrance to the main dungeon is "black" and the exit is "white".
Researchers speculate that this makes sense, but the reasons are still unknown.
"I'm used to seeing it, but it looks like it at first. But as you get used to it, the" black "gate will give you peace of mind."
"Feeling safe?
"That's right. The Black Gate is an image of the end of exploration. This is the color of the exit for the sub-dungeon, and the main dungeon mostly goes in and out of the black gate, right? Every time I go back through this black gate, I feel like it's over."
"Well, I didn't know that."
Mizue is convinced by Fukuyama's words and looks towards its black end gate.
Tenge stared at the end gate for the first time in a long time and said, "Hah, it's finally over."
(I knew it... there was no way to verify the demon. There was Fukuyama-san next door all along, and somehow Mizue almost took care of it. The lack of harvest hurt, but it was a good experience.)
The 26th group thus arrived in front of the end gate.