The Third Dungeon Battle: The War Begins

When I came to, I was sleeping with Niku as a hug pillow. Alcohol is scary.

… Good thing I prepared a golem alarm clock for situations like this. I cast [Healing] on my head. Ahh, that feels better.

Still, it was good that I passed out early. Otherwise, she might have made me drink until I died of alcohol poisoning. Haku-san got drunk partway through too, saying things like, "Beer-sama! Offer up Beer-sama!" while drinking from a mug she said was carved from crystal.

For now, I lightly pressed down my bedhead with my fingers and poked Niku's squishy cheek.

Niku let out a small "Nuu…" sound like something was caught in her throat and woke up immediately.

Still yawning, I left the room with Niku, who was sleepily rubbing her eyes.

On our way to the conference room where we were supposed to meet, I ran into Rokuko.

"Good morning, Kehma. You actually woke up on time."

"Good morning, Rokuko. It was the right call to set an alarm… haah, being woken up by an alarm clock even after coming to another world — I want this to be the last time… Also, you seem pretty energetic."

"Huh? Well, I recharged so much at the banquet yesterday."

Rokuko's skin was positively glowing.

Being able to actually recharge at a drinking party is a talent in itself. It just wore me out.

When we arrived at the conference room, Ichika was already waiting. It seems she was the first one here.

Ichika's skin was also glowing, clearly showing she'd recharged plenty… Wait, now that I look, Niku's fur looks a bit glossy too. Am I the weird one here?!

"Ichika is surprisingly diligent, huh. You got here with plenty of time to spare."

"Bein' punctual for request deadlines an' meetin' times is what makes an excellent adventurer, ya know. It's basic stuff."

"I see… Maybe I should quit being an adventurer then. I only became one to have an identity to enter town with anyway."

"… Even if ya took some shortcuts, ya made it to B-Rank, so let's keep at it, yeah? C'mon?"

Haku-san arrived last. Right on time.

… Haku-san's steps were light, and she seemed to be really looking forward to the Dungeon Battle. After all, whether we win or lose, Haku-san will be physically closer to Rokuko.

Though I figured this was essentially a proxy war between Haku-san and the other upper cores.

"Oh my, Kehma-san, are you expecting to lose?"

"I intend to win."

"Then there's no problem with me being in high spirits. In today's Dungeon Battle, we upper cores will only be giving advice from the back. Do your best."

"Yeah, well, I'll give it a shot."

"Rokuko-chan, I'll give you gentle guidance even if you lose, alright?"

"Thank you, I appreciate that — but Kehma won't lose!"

We returned to the arena in [Cave of Desires], then passed through a gate that led directly to [White Beach]'s Core Room. Once there, we entered the Master Room inside the Dummy Core that had been placed there.

First, I used [Summon Gargoyle] to call out over a dozen Gargoyles and sent them toward the planned location for the Dungeon Battle gate. The drawback of Summon-type spells is that when the caster passes out, the summons return. That's why I had to wait until right before the battle to summon them.

After checking all the gimmicks scheduled to be active today and finishing up those final touches, the time for the Dungeon Battle finally arrived.

"Alriiight everyone, it's time. Are you ready for the Dungeon Battle?"

While waiting in the Master Room, an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed through it. It sounded somewhat frivolous, yet carried an authority you couldn't defy, and you couldn't tell what he was thinking. An entire wall turned into a monitor, showing a man dressed in a dark blue robe with dusky skin, black hair, and golden eyes. Half of the man's face — around his eyes — was hidden behind a mask.

… So this is Father. He looks younger than I expected.

"Team Demon King is prepared, Father."

"Team Dragon King has no problems, Father."

"Team Sovereign. We're all set, Otou-sama."

The upper cores from the three teams answered respectfully… Seeing even Haku-san bow her head, he really must be important.

"Alright, let's begi— actually, before that. Do any of the junior cores have anything to say?"

"This is 666 — 695, this is a duel between you and me!"

"Hey! Ah, this is 650. Let me just say, we're going to win. Even if you two combine, you're just two cores — we have three! Three cores! Obviously we're going to win!"

"… This is 695, but I don't really have anything to say. Let's just get started already — I'm going to win."

Wow, Rokuko. That's pretty confident.

"Hahaha, everyone's fired up, huh. Alright then, let's begin… Five seconds, four, three, two, one… Three-team Dungeon Battle, START!"

At Father's starting signal, two gates opened in the room we had designated beforehand with a whoosh!

I had prepared plenty of golems in the room. Some golems were carrying boxes on their backs. Inside those boxes were scouting personnel.

Immediately after, arm-thick snakes came gushing vigorously out of one of the gates. Looks like that one is Team Dragon King's gate.

From the other gate came human bones moving with a clatter clatter… Skeletons. So Team Demon King went with those.

While having the Golem Corps deal with the emerging snakes and skeletons, I gave Niku her orders.

"Alright, let's get started. Activate the flooding gimmick."

"Understood. Opening the first floodgate."

Niku operated the monitor with a tap.

Dodododododo… Dobaaa!

The floodgate connecting the dungeon floor to the ocean. A massive amount of seawater poured in through it, flooding the bottommost floor — the floor with the gates.

The floodgate I just opened connects the lowest floor to the ocean.

Actually, for this Dungeon Battle, I designed the dungeon's shape specifically to make full use of the flooding gimmick.

Think of it as a tower-type dungeon. The entrance is on the ground floor, and you capture it by ascending. So what would happen if water came flooding down from an upper floor?

Obviously, it would flow downward. Water flows from high to low, after all.

I recreated this in an underground dungeon. By placing the entrance on the lowest floor and the Core on the first floor, it's the reverse of the normal layout. Of course, to reach the first floor, you still have to enter through the lowest floor entrance, so in terms of the Core being in the deepest part, it's the same as a normal dungeon.

"Really, your ideas never cease to amaze me, Kehma-san."

"Hahaha, this way we can use the water's push to obstruct intruders better than just submerging them."

Simply submerging them wouldn't affect opponents like golems that don't need to breathe. But a rushing flash flood works well as an impediment — no, as an attack.

Seeing the force of the water on the monitor right now, I'm honestly confident I'd get crushed if that came at me.

Looking at the map, ninety percent of the lowest floor was already flooded. I designed the passageways so that ultimately, the seawater would rush with full momentum into the room with the gates. Think of the gate room as where a drainage ditch empties out.

I timed it and opened the door to the gate room.

Seawater flooded into the gate room, the raging waters like a tsunami, sweeping away the battling snakes, skeletons, and golems all together into the enemy gates.