Chapter 181

Third Dungeon Battle: Battle 4

[Right, Kehma-kun, there's something I wanted to ask you. That alright? There's no aquatic-type core right now. If I had to say why, it'd be that they wouldn't be able to come to the party... Kehma-kun. Do you think that something like a merman-type core could come to the party?]

"... Couldn't they participate if you hosted it next to the sea or at a pool or something? I mean, couldn't they participate even if you just put a big bucket on a wagon? Or maybe you could just have them know humanization from the start? I've heard stuff about mermen like that before.—Ooh, couldn't they just have some sort of skill that let them swim in the air?"

[Ooooh, good, good. As expected of Kehma-kun. I'll make a note of that!]

[Father] suddenly opened communications with us. He asked me a question, so I gave him a suitable response.

Please don't make a personal consultation during a battle, referee!

"Kehma, you were able to respond like usual with Tou-sama? Amazing!"

"He's your Tou-chan right? I'm just going with that kind of feeling." [1]

He's Rokuko's father, so I decided to not care even if he was God. There's no reason for me to worry about it.

"To call him Tou-chan... that's rather impolite to Otou-sama, Kehma-san."

[Un? I don't mind, call me what you like. Well, I wouldn't mind even if Kehma-kun called me Otou-san... ah, I'd actually prefer him to call me Father-in-Law-san you know? Lyon-kun used that for me.] [2]

Listening to us like it was nothing, he answered. Oi, who's this Lyon-kun guy?

When I was thinking about that, Ichika whispered it into my ear.

... Ah, so he's the first emperor of the Raverio Empire. In other words, Haku-san's master, huh? Looks like he even turned into their currency. One copper coin is 1 Lyon.

"It would be nice if you avoided speaking of that man, Otou-sama. He's a past mistake."

[Gotcha.]

Hearing them talk about him like a normal father and daughter, it felt somewhat strange. So the first emperor's an ex-boyfriend huh... ah, I'm sensing bloodlust from Haku-san. Nothing to see here! Nothing!

*

Well, back on topic now, I made a move against the snakes with the [Skeletons] I summoned and mixed into their midst by taking advantage of their turmoil while fighting against the Gargoyles.

Team Dragon King splendidly retaliated against Team Demon King's Skeletons. How gullible are these guys? Team Demon King took it a step further though.

They started annihilating Team Dragon King's snakes.

... From the looks of it, I'd say that after finishing off the Gargoyles, they decided that Team Dragon King was simply a nuisance after our meddling.

The snakes started dashing away like baby spiders, so it was decided that they'd advance separately... Well, the dungeon's practically a single path the whole way because of the water though. The only branches really, particularly on lower floors, are just the flood gates' areas. They're basically just dead ends.

It doesn't look like they annihilated all of the snakes for now, but it looks like they're definitely going to make it through the areas separately.

I appreciate that. I didn't want to think about how good two teams working together would be.

"Ah, I should replenish the Gargoyles huh."

I repeatedly used the incantation for [Summon Gargoyle]. It's a pain, but Haku-san's right here.

The summoned Gargoyles went out to counterattack.

... Ah, the next floor's a completely submerged area? Before making their way up an ascending staircase, it was a floor that they had to first make their way down a staircase into water.

For another way to picture it, think of the bend just below a toilet. It's the thing that prevents pests from making their way into the bowl from the sewers.

As a dungeon restriction, there had to be a point where they could take a rest and breathe air on the way since a dungeon that couldn't be captured was an out, so it wasn't right to say it was completely submerged, but still...

Setting aside the snakes, the Skeletons didn't need the rest point at all.

"I'll send the Gargoyles to wait at the rest point just in case. They have the magic skill [Spark] since they'll be at a place where everything's drenched in sea water... but still..."

"? Is there something to be uneasy about, Kehma? It sounds like it'll work to me."

"... I wonder if electricity works against bones..."

"Oooh."

It'd mess muscles up pretty bad, but they're just bone.

I glanced at Haku-san.

"If you have something you want to ask, please go and ask it. [Spark] is a light-type magic, so it is effective against Skeletons."

"Ah, so it's that sort of thing?"

"I don't know what you mean by 'that sort of thing' though?"

But well, those bones are just going to skip the rest point. The snakes will probably take a break there though.

Even if I tried having them use [Spark] from the surface of the water—it'd scatter in the water, so it wouldn't work.

And that's how the defense is going, but what about the offense?

"Ichika, Meat. How's our attack going?"

"Team Demon King's dungeon, just now won against that bone bone with the shark. The boss room door popped open so I sent the sardines into the third floor to explore."

"Team Dragon King's dungeon, the black armor is obliterating, so I left it to Team Demon King and am just searching and guiding. It's going well. Also, slugs appeared in defense. They are crowding the ceiling. Should I project it onto the monitor?"

Let's not look at Team Dragon King's dungeon. It's doing alright. What's on my mind is how to go about interrupting the enemy team that are invading us together. Well, they'd be better off cooperating in trying to capture the dungeon. They'd make progress.

There's a hand I prepared but haven't used, but well, there's no reason for me to use it if I can win without it. [3]

It looking like they are progressing, so let's add some water to slow them down before they get to the submerged area.

"Alright, open the gates~. Leave them open for a while and drain the water into the enemies' dungeons."

"Kay~. For where they are... the third flood gate? Opening!"

Dodododo... the seawater surged, overtaking the Skeletons and snakes.

"... Oh?"

"Kehma, emergency! The aren't getting swept away!"

The snakes were washed away. However, the Skeletons anchored down by clinging to the walls.

Lining up single file against the wall, the Skeletons sliced through the water current.

By having one of them take the brunt of the water's momentum, they were able to make it easier on all the rest.

This is a method used by several groups to counter flash flooding... our opponents figured it out faster than I thought. Was it because of a hint from Core 6? Or maybe it was Core 666 or the master's ability to cope?

"Leave the water going for a while. It doesn't look like they're able to move while the water's flowing, so I'll throw something at them."

"G-got it."

Loading a Gargoyle up into a [Mana Potion (Barrel)], I put it into the water current and had it hit the Skeletons.

The barrel and several of the Skeletons broke, so I sent more Gargoyles in.

The Skeletons weren't able to hold up, so their formation collapsed and they got washed away.

I decided to have the Gargoyles that got washed into Team Dragon King's dungeon along with the Skeletons continue on and explore.

... I wonder if they'll think up a countermeasure for the Gargoyle-in-a-barrel?

Let's come up with something else.

Footnotes:

Please note that almost every character is referring to [Father] with very slight differences. As most of terms aren't generally known by English readers, I've resorted to translating the lesser-known ones as either [Dad] or [Father]. Return

An example of a lesser used "Father"... Gifu-san -> Father-in-Law/Stepfather. Author even goes so far as to tell readers to read it as 'Otou-san'. It's such a mouthful in English though ._. Return

This might be more than a single trump card. Doesn't specify. Will come back and edit if mentioned in the future.