Team Demon King's Side

The water current was more troublesome than expected.

Though they managed to hold their ground, they couldn't advance beyond that. By the time the water finally stopped, [Team Demon King]'s dungeon's third floor had been flooded, and the bone fish boss was put back to work. This time, following the opponent's example, she went with small fish like sardines with a single boss mixed in. That should buy some time.

… Good grief, the DP she'd set aside for today was running low. Core 666 let out a sigh.

For now, she summoned Skeletons with [Summon Skeleton] and sent them into [Team Sovereign]'s dungeon.

By having many skeletons' worth of bones move as one like a centipede, they somehow managed to endure the water current and advance.

… However, thanks to this, a new way of using them had been discovered. This could work in its own right.

"As expected, 695 is fit to be my rival…"

When Core 666 advanced the Skeletons, she found a small room at the top of the ascending stairs. There, a descending staircase led into water. Had she taken a wrong turn? No, that didn't seem to be the case. This must be an already-submerged floor.

They were expendable anyway, so Core 666 sent the bones forward without hesitation.

It was like the ocean floor.

There was almost no light, and seaweed grew everywhere. It swayed back and forth, making the already poor visibility even worse.

Looking up from within the water, there appeared to be a small room letting in light like moonlight.

"Quite a stylish floor."

However, this was still a dungeon. Naturally, traps were set.

When she tried to have the Skeletons push aside the seaweed with their hands to clear a path, a hand suddenly fell off.

"…? Was something done to it? No… is something there?"

To be sure, she advanced the Skeletons further and had them swing their arms (bones) the same way.

At a certain spot, the bone was cleanly sliced into cross-sections.

"… This is… Jii-sama, what is this thing?"

At Core 666's question, Core 6 stared at the monitor.

It was hard to make out, but Core 6 was able to identify what it was.

It was thread. Orichalcum thread, stretched incredibly thin and taut.

"Hoh. This appears to be thread made from orichalcum… I see, so that's what happens when you make it this thin."

"Orichalcum! Come to think of it, 695 was wearing an orichalcum ring, Jii-sama."

"Was she now? She must have a skilled dwarf blacksmith in her employ… I know, I'll show you an orichalcum ingot sometime. It's quite beautiful."

"Fufu, I look forward to it. It's a promise, okay?"

Still, thread. Even if she wanted to cut it, orichalcum was beyond her.

No matter how thin, without dwarven processing techniques, orichalcum would never break. In other words, there was no way to remove this thread.

Upon investigation, she found the passage split into a straight path and a side path, with the thread set up on the straight path. Further ahead, the two divergent paths merged back together.

The thread was strung like a coarse net.

It didn't matter for Skeletons, but there was a small room beyond the net where one could apparently catch their breath.

If someone tried to take the shortcut and run straight through this passage, they would be sliced to pieces by that razor-sharp wire.

"… I see, so that's how it is."

Core 666 imagined combining this with the water current trap.

Thread sharp enough to slice bones on contact. If the water current pushed you against it, you'd be minced into a mesh pattern. Just imagining it was gruesome. Wonderful.

"What about my magic sword? Could it cut it, Jii-sama?"

"Best not to let it touch. My magic sword has the [Indestructible] property so it could hold up, but even so, cutting through orichalcum would be quite the effort."

"Heh… even Jii-sama's magic sword…"

While continuing to use [Summon Skeleton], Core 666 smiled fearlessly.