The Third Dungeon Battle: Combat (4)

"Right, Kehma-kun. There's something I'd like to ask, is that alright? There aren't any aquatic creature-type cores right now. The reason being they couldn't come to parties… Kehma-kun, how do you think a mermaid-type core could attend a party?"

"… Couldn't you hold it at the beach, or make a pool, or put a bucket on a cart and have them ride in that? Or you could just have them learn humanization from the start. I've heard stories of mermaids being able to do that… Oh, or what if they could just swim through the air with some skill?"

"Nice, nice. As expected of Kehma-kun. I'll use that as reference."

[Father] suddenly contacted me out of nowhere with a question, so I gave him an off-the-cuff answer.

Seriously, don't come to me with personal consultations during a battle, Mr. Referee.

"Kehma, the fact that you can respond normally to Tou-sama is amazing."

"He's your dad, right? That's basically how I see him."

Since he's Rokuko's father, I decided not to care even if he's a god. There's no point in worrying about someone so hard to pin down anyway.

"Calling him a dad… that's rude to Otou-sama, Kehma-san."

"Hm? Feel free to call me whatever you like. Well, Kehma-kun, you could call me Otou-san… or actually, father-in-law would be fine too, you know? Lyon-kun used to call me that."

So he was listening normally and just casually responded. Oi. And who's Lyon-kun?

While I was thinking that, Ichika whispered in my ear.

… Ah, the first emperor of the Raverio Empire. In other words, Haku-san's master. His name even became a unit of currency, apparently. One copper coin equals one Lyon.

"Let's not talk about that man, Otou-sama. He was a mistake of the past."

"I see."

Listening to them like this, it really does feel like an ordinary conversation between father and daughter. How strange. So the first emperor was like an ex-boyfr… oops, I'm sensing bloodlust from Haku-san. It's nothing. Nothing at all.

Setting that aside, I had used the chaos of the earlier Gargoyle battle as cover to harass the snakes with Skeletons I'd summoned on our side.

[Team Dragon King] took the bait splendidly and attacked [Team Demon King]'s Skeletons. What gullible guys, I thought. But [Team Demon King] went even further beyond expectations.

They went to annihilate [Team Dragon King]'s snakes.

… Seeing as they did it after wiping out the Gargoyles, they probably decided [Team Dragon King] was simply a nuisance after our meddling.

The snakes scattered like baby spiders, each advancing separately… Well, this dungeon is almost entirely a single path since it's designed for water-flushing. Even if there are side paths, especially on the lower floors, they only lead to flood gate areas. Dead ends, all of them.

At any rate, the snakes weren't annihilated, but it looked like they'd be advancing completely separately from now on.

That's helpful. I no longer have to worry about two teams cooperating to capture the dungeon.

"Oops, I need to replenish the Gargoyles."

I repeatedly cast [Summon Gargoyle] with proper incantations. It's a pain, but Haku-san is right here.

I sent the summoned Gargoyles off to intercept.

… Ah, the next floor is the completely submerged area. After climbing the ascending stairs, there's a floor where you have to descend stairs that lead into water.

Think of it like a drain trap. The kind that prevents pests from entering through the sewers.

Due to dungeon restrictions, an unbeatable dungeon isn't allowed, so I prepared several rest points along the way where they can breathe. So it's not quite "completely" submerged, but…

The snakes aside, the Skeletons don't need rest points at all, do they.

"I'll have the Gargoyles camp the rest points. The plan is to hit them with the electric magic skill [Spark] when they come out dripping wet from the seawater… but, hmm."

"? Is something wrong, Kehma? Just hearing it, it sounds like it'd work."

"… I wonder if electricity even works on bones…"

"Ahh."

Muscles would twitch and spasm, but they're just bones.

I glanced at Haku-san.

"If you have something to ask, please ask properly. [Spark] is light-attribute magic, so it's quite effective against Skeletons."

"Oh, so that's how it works."

"I don't know what you mean by 'how it works,' though."

But well, the bones might just skip the rest points entirely. It should work against the snakes though.

If they skip too many, maybe I should try firing [Spark] from the water's surface… no, it'd disperse in the seawater. That won't work.

Well, setting defense aside, how's the offense going?

"Ichika, Niku. How's the attack going?"

"[Team Demon King]'s dungeon, we just took down the bone fish with the shark. Boss room door opened, so I'm sendin' the sardines to the third floor to keep explorin'."

"[Team Dragon King]'s dungeon, the Black Armor is dominating, so I've left it to [Team Demon King] and am just scouting and guiding. It's going smoothly. Also, slugs came out for defense. The ceiling is covered with them. Want me to put it on the monitor?"

Let's not look at [Team Dragon King]'s dungeon. Still, things are going smoothly. The main concern is interference from the enemy teams that are also invading. I know it's rich coming from me, but it's better to cooperate somewhat on dungeon capture since things go more smoothly that way.

Some of the cards I'd prepared might not even get used. Well, if we can win with trump cards to spare, nothing beats that.

Since the capture seems to be progressing, let's hit them with water and add more before they enter the submerged area.

"Alright, open the floodgates. Leave it open for a while and pour water into the enemy dungeon."

"Okay～. For this position, that'd be the third floodgate. I'll leave it open."

Dodododo… the seawater surged and swelled, crashing into the Skeletons and snakes.

"… Hm?"

"Kehma, this is bad! These guys aren't getting swept away!"

The snakes were swept away. But the Skeletons held firm against the wall.

The Skeletons had lined up single file along the passage wall, receiving the water current head-on.

One person's worth of surface area takes the force of the rushing water, while everyone behind braces together.

This was a technique for multiple people to counter flash floods… They adapted faster than I expected. Was it advice from Core 6, or Core 666 and her master thinking on their feet?

"Keep the water flowing for a while. They can't move while the water's running, so let's throw something at them."

"G-got it."

I stuffed a Gargoyle into an empty barrel left over from a Mana Potion (Barrel) and sent it riding the water current to crash into the Skeletons.

The barrel and several Skeletons shattered, and the Gargoyle followed up with attacks as it was carried along.

Unable to withstand this, the Skeletons' formation collapsed and they were swept away.

I had the Gargoyle that got swept all the way to [Team Dragon King]'s dungeon along with the Skeletons continue exploring there.

… I wonder if they'll come up with countermeasures for the barrel-Gargoyle combo too. Better think of other options.