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 with a question, so I gave him an off-the-cuff answer.

Please don't make personal consultations during a battle, 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.

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

"Hm? Feel free to call me whatever you like. Well, Kehma-kun, you could even call me Otou-san… or actually, I wouldn't mind if you called me father-in-law, you know? Lyon-kun used to call me that."

He was listening normally and replied normally. Oi. Also, who's this 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. Apparently his name even became a unit of currency. One copper coin equals one Lyon.

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

"I see."

Listening to this, it really does feel like an ordinary conversation between father and daughter. Strange. So the first emperor was like an ex-boyfr—oop, I'm sensing bloodlust from Haku-san. Nothing's happening here. Nothing at all.

Setting that aside, I made a move against the snakes with [Skeletons] I summoned, using the chaos of the Gargoyle battle as cover.

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.

They started annihilating Team Dragon King's snakes.

… Seeing that 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, ending up advancing separately… Well, this dungeon is almost entirely a single path for water-flushing purposes anyway. Even if there are side paths, especially on the lower floors, they're just flood gate areas. Dead ends in the end.

For now, the snakes weren't annihilated, but it looks like they'll definitely be advancing separately.

That's helpful. I don't have to worry about two teams cooperating to capture the dungeon anymore.

"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, huh. After climbing the ascending stairs, there's a floor where you have to go down stairs that continue into water.

Think of it as a drain trap. That thing that prevents pests from entering through the sewers.

Due to dungeon restrictions, a dungeon that can't be cleared is out, so I prepared several rest points where they can breathe air along the way, so it's not quite "completely" submerged, but…

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

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

"? Is something bothering you, Kehma? Just hearing about 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 much, maybe I should try firing [Spark] from the water's surface—no, it'd disperse in the seawater, so that won't work.

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

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

"Team Demon King's dungeon—just took down the bone fish with the shark. Boss room door opened, so I'm sendin' the sardines to the third floor to continue 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. Should I 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 team that's also invading. I know it's rich coming from me, but it's better to cooperate somewhat on dungeon capture, things go more smoothly that way.

Some of the hands I prepared might not even get used. Well, if we can win with trump cards to spare, that's all the better.

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

"Alright, open the floodgate. Leave it open for a while and flood 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, assaulting the Skeletons and snakes.

"… Huh?"

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

The snakes were swept away. But the Skeletons stayed anchored by the wall.

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

A single person's worth of area receives the momentum of the rushing water, while everyone behind braces.

This was a standard method 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 flowing, so let's throw something at them."

"G-got it."

I put a Gargoyle into an empty barrel 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 as it was carried along.

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

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

… I wonder if they'll come up with countermeasures for the barrel and Gargoyle too. Let me think of other options.