Second Dungeon Battle, Pursuit

Another large group of hostile responses appeared on the map. Looking at them, it was a group of golems.

But these weren't golems that Ontentoo was familiar with.

"…! Oi, the heck's with these golems? They're armed!"

"H-huh?! Armed golems?!"

These golems wore stone armor and helmets, carried shields, and wielded swords or short spears. And more importantly, they had appeared in an orderly rectangular formation. It was like a human army.

He had no idea what supplies they were carrying, but there were even wooden crates among them. Ontentoo thought they didn't need to take the imitation that far.

"Hahaha! That's incredible, never seen anything like this before… wait, huh?"

However, as soon as they appeared, half of the golems changed direction and headed outside the dungeon.

"Huh? What're they thinking? Deserting before the enemy… golems, really?"

Ontentoo tilted his head in confusion, but since the other half had already infiltrated the dungeon, he sent the Red Lizards that had escaped the water assault to intercept them. Though most had been swept away, he still had roughly the usual number available.

But…

"Tch, they're tough after all. When they coordinate like that, they're way stronger than unskilled humans."

The Red Lizards' charge was stopped by the front line's shields, then they were skewered by the rear line's spears. Even when they breathed fire, the shields blocked it all the same, and the spears skewered them just as before. Their movements were flawlessly synchronized, like an elite human unit.

His main force of Red Lizards was being completely shut down. And in the blink of an eye… slower than the rushing water had been, but the golems accurately secured the shortest route to the stairs.

Then, the moment they secured it, an additional group of golems appeared. These too were clad in stone armaments, moving in coordinated formation. They advanced through the passage defended by their fellow golems, similarly securing the second floor.

"Kuh… this is a pain… the Magma Slimes fled from the water, and Red Frogs can't fight golems at all. Poison and burns don't work on them!"

For a fire-type dungeon, a group of golems was a hopelessly bad matchup.

If only he had the Red Minotaurs, he lamented, but they were only stationed on the sixth floor and below.

"But if it's just a frontal assault… huh?!"

New intruders appeared. But not at the entrance.

He looked at the fourth floor on the map. The hole he'd opened earlier to drain the water. A group of armed golems was entering through it.

"Wha… so that's where the detachment went!! Hahaha, they got me! The ones inside were a diversion!"

When walls were destroyed by enemies, they could be repaired even with intruders present.

But that didn't apply to holes he'd opened himself. He couldn't seal them if there were intruders there. The hostile water puddles remained as well. He might have been able to deal with it if he'd focused entirely on the water, but even if he sealed it, they'd just send a second wave. There was nothing he could do. Maybe he could have thought of a better plan, but he'd been magnificently baited by the diversion.

In other words, this hole would now serve as a shortcut that bypassed the first three floors.

Moreover, the next golem unit was deployed. These were lightly equipped, but they were carrying something. It looked like shed snakeskin… The winding thing was connected all the way back to the other dungeon, still extending. What was it for? And how long did it go? The golems were carrying it as it continued to stretch.

This golem unit circled around to the outside. What on earth were they doing…?

The armed golems that invaded through the fourth floor's side hole… weren't moving. As if waiting for something to arrive… Even when Ontentoo's side attacked to repel the intruders, they were blocked by shields, short spears, and swords.

While this was happening, the golems carrying the snakeskin-like thing joined up with them.

"What the hell is that…?!"

Another massive wave of intruders appeared on the map. Not golems. He couldn't see them at all.

But the snakeskin thing the golems had been carrying showed a change. What had been flat and collapsed was now swollen taut. And the intruders were running through it… Probably the same stuff as the water from before. It had gone outside the dungeon once, and its destination was… the hole on the fourth floor. Looking closer, soil had been banked up around the base so that small amounts wouldn't leak out.

"Ha, hahahahaha! This is bad…!"

In this pinch, Ontentoo deliberately laughed heartily to steel his resolve.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

A hose using the height difference to continuously pump water in. What was being pumped was daphnia water.

Oh, when I say hose, I mean the kind used on fire trucks. It wasn't enough for a second dungeon flash flood, but it could still waterlog the place.

"So, Plan B. Anyone want to share their impressions?"

"When the opponent opens a hole to drain the water, we charge in from outside and pour more water in. If the hole's too small, we seal it off and pour water in anyway. And if they open another hole further down, we just do the same thing from there, right…? That's awful! Have you even thought about how the other side feels?!"

"As expected of Goshujin-sama!"

"That's brutal～"

By the way, Plan A was the pattern where they didn't drain and we could just proceed as is, and Plan C was the pattern where they completely stopped the water by dumping it inside or something, forcing us to attack head-on.

Plan A would have been ideal… but I guess that was too much to hope for.

I tried exchanging DP for just the fire engine hose, and it was expensive. Though given the sheer quantity, the DP cost was understandable. I think I spent about 100,000 DP worth in total. Converting gold coins to DP felt wasteful, so I borrowed from Rokuko for the shortfall, using the gold coins as collateral. Interest-free… This was the biggest expense of the whole operation.

Spending this much on a battle we've already won might seem wasteful, but this much should be fine. I mean, I wanted to do a water attack… no wait, it's necessary to reach the lowest floor. Repeating the flooding lets us blitz through floor captures. Besides, we'll reuse the hose at the inn, so it's not wasteful, right? Yep, yep.

Also, is a fire engine hose really classified as a miscellaneous good…? Well, whatever. It's convenient since you can connect multiple lengths.

"Like, Goshujin-sama, our side ain't needed at all, is it? Ain't it fine to just attack from outside?"

I had left Ichika in charge of operating the golem force that was capturing floors one by one from the first floor using conventional tactics.

"… It's good experience, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but. Wouldn't it be better to pull out and re-enter through the hole?"

"… Yeah, you're right. Let's re-enter."

Sorry, that was insurance in case Plan B didn't work out. It wasn't pointless. It just turned out we didn't need it.

"The scout rat squad has located surviving Red Lizards. Sending skirmish golems to intercept."

"Oh, I'll leave that to you, Niku."

For the record, this time the rats were scouting outside the dungeon. They'd been carried in via the wooden crates and scattered outside.

"Kehma, a new hole opened up. On the fifth floor. And it's a boss room."

"So drowning the boss was a no-go after all."

Still, that's a bold move for a water countermeasure. A boss room with direct access from outside… doesn't seem like the act of a sane person. Not that I'm one to talk.

Incidentally, a boss room is a boss room. You can't proceed further without defeating the boss. It looks like the door beyond won't let even a single drop of water through. In other words, we have to defeat the Red Dragon here.

A final boss on the fifth floor of a fifty-floor dungeon? What a garbage game design. Talk about broken balance.

"… Well then, time for some dragon slaying."

I had an armed golem peek through the hole.

"GYAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU"

Instantly, a roar that sent vibrations rattling even through the monitor. White light. Blackout.

The other golems saw what happened. Dragon breath. Incandescent heat engulfed the armed golem, burning it to ash in an instant… How hot does it have to be to burn stone equipment to ash?!

"Kakakaka! How'd ya like my breath?! Even stone bodies burn, ya know?! Come on, come on, step right up, puppets! My breath's a little hot!"

The Red Dragon laughed triumphantly. The power overflowing from her body made me recognize her as a formidable being, completely different from what you'd expect seeing her with that Stupimander.

"K-Kehma? Can we actually win this?!"

"… No idea."

… Seriously, I had no clue whether we could defeat this creature called a Red Dragon.

But we've already won the match. Let's give it everything we've got.