Metal Slime 241
Chapter 241: Bottom Floor of Dvarapara TL: Cnine ED/PF: Part 1 「Eh? Well, that's...」 Yuuma was at a loss for words when Anik suddenly asked
Chapter 241: Bottom Floor of Dvarapara
TL: Cnine
ED/PF:
Part 1
「Eh? Well, that's...」
Yuuma was at a loss for words when Anik suddenly asked such a question.
「Hohohohoho, no need to get flustered. I've lived long enough to see through something like that. So, how much time left you can use that power?」
Yuuma turned around and looked at Rui and Akito. Both of them seemed confused at first, but in the end, they nodded.
They must've realized that it was pointless to hide such a matter right now. Yuuma thought the same and, with resolve, began to speak.
「…I can only use transformation fourteen times. Each time lasts five minutes, and once it's used, I can't revert until a full day passes.」
「Uhm... So that means you're only have 13 left.」
「Yes.」
Hearing Yuuma's answer, Anik closed his eyes and stroked his beard.
「We’re currently on the 283rd floor. It’s said that Dvarapara has around 303 floors. So, that leaves just twenty more floors… Which is a bit of an uncertain number.」
Anik's concern was valid. Yuuma stepped forward as he raised his gaze.
「Anik-san! I'll beat the monster on the bottom floor as long as we manage to reach it!」
「Hou.」
Anik narrowed his eyes, looking at Yuuma.
「Are you confident that you... can defeat the "Guardian of the Dungeon"?」
「Yes!」
Anik's cheeks loosened, and he let out a laugh after hearing Yuuma's reply.
「Got it. I’ll choose to trust you. We’ll support you with all our might, and reach the bottom floor no matter what.」
Yuuma exchanged glances with Rui and Akito, then looked back at Anik.
「Thank you, I'll do my best too!」
◇◇◇
The closer the team got to the bottom floor, the more intense the battle along the way became.
Kayla continued progressing in the dungeon’s capture without getting involved with Yuuma and the others, but she was struggling against the environment, where powerful monsters were appearing in large numbers.
「Circle around! Cut their retreat path!!」
Kayla shouted. The Indian seekers were trapping a scorpion monster, Serkat, in a circular enclosure.
As many had been killed, Kayla dealt damage to the monster and cornered it. The moment a pillar of fire rose and Serkat flinched, Kayla swung her sword down.
She crushed the Serkat's "Wind Barrier" with vacuum magic, and channeled vacuum magic into her sword again for her second attack.
「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!」
She scraped away Serkat's outer shell and struck a vacuum sphere into the monster's core. In the end, the sphere burst, tearing the massive creature apart.
Kayla raised her face as she breathed heavily, and there, she saw another Serkat coming out from the gap between trees.
The seekers around her had a look of despair on their faces, but Kayla wiped the sweat from her forehead with the palm of her hand and glared fiercely at the monster.
「Come at me! I'll take you all on!」
While Kayla and her team were fighting with their lives on the line, Anik and co were also fighting nearby.
Being surrounded by seven "Kalpavriksha," even Anik couldn't afford to maintain his smile.
Rui and Akito joined the fight to assist Makamayuri.
Yuuma had been told not to use his 『Metallization』, so all he could do was watch the situation unfold in frustration. Without metallization, he lacked the strength to challenge the 【Monsters from the deep floor】.
They somehow managed to defeat the monsters and proceed to the next floor, but the sacrifices among the seekers were quite significant—even Anik and Rui were battered and exhausted.
In the end, Yuuma had to use 『Metallization』 twice until they reached the 290th floor to clear up the monsters.
And then, on the 290th floor――
「I'll take the frontline!」
「Yeah, please do, Yuuma.」
Rui replied with a pained expression as he held his left arm.
Once they had ventured this deep into the dungeon, the environment had become one where humans could no longer proceed normally. Countless powerful monsters, including the likes of the Serkat, appeared one after another, and highly poisonous plants grew everywhere.
Yuuma invoked his 『Metallization』 and stepped forward to the frontline to take on the monsters.
「OUT OF MY WAY!!」
When Yuuma swung the glowing green axe, the Serkat and Kalpavriksha were sent flying and shattered into pieces.
The massive tree that blocked his path was smashed to pieces with a single slash.
Anik and co, including the other Indian seekers, moved along the path created by Yuuma. Among these seekers, only Kayla wore a complicated expression on her face.
The 295th floor.
「We'll try to not using Yuuma's power to breakthrough the floor!!」
Akito shouted loudly. If Yuuma kept using his power like this, there was a possibility he wouldn't be able to perform 『Metallization』 on the lowest floor.
Akito, Rui, and Anik tried to conserve Yuuma's power as much as possible, but...
「No! I'll do it.」
Near the lowest level, monsters popped out as if there was no end to them. The Indian seekers were unable to handle the situation.
Yuuma leaped forward and activated 『Metallization』, coloring his entire body black, transforming into a monstrous form. Summoning "Wind Blade," he used it to sweep the monsters in his path.
◇◇◇
A gentle slope leading down the floor. As everyone trudged along, battered and exhausted, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a breathtaking, atrium-like scene.
The ground ahead turned into a precipitous cliff. Peering over the edge, one could see the bottom far below.
「Finally, the bottom floor...」
Yuuma was at a loss for words. Anik, who came up from behind, also peered down and muttered in amazement.
It was a space that seemed to be formed from two or three floors, creating a cylindrical shaft with a considerable depth. Although the circumference had narrowed, the depth was truly remarkable.
In the center of that space was a gigantic, towering tree, higher than the ceiling of a single floor.
And there were four smaller trees standing around that giant tree in the center, forming a circle.
Even though they were small, the four trees were still about fifty meters tall. The ground was covered by tree roots, and roots and vines spread all the way, covering the dungeon walls.
Crouching down and looking below, Yuuma felt a sense of déjà vu. He recognized the shape of the floor.
「This place kinda reminds me of the bottom floor of Yokohama's 【Black Dungeon】...」
The dungeon in Yokohama that he had explored with Kanzaki and Aisha. Although the size of the floors was different, the shape of the floors stretching vertically seemed remarkably similar.
What was even more concerning was the massive tree at the center of the hole――
「That's... a Cluster of Kalpavriksha」
「Cluster?」
Yuuma furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing Anik's remark.
「The "Main Body" of the Kalpavriksha is parasitizing a large number of trees. I've never seen anything like that before.」
「Meaning that those trees are... the "Guardian of the Labyrinth"!」
Yuuma glared at the massive tree. At that moment, a voice could be heard from nearby.
「H-How are we supposed to defeat... those monsters!?」
Kayla, who had been looking down at the bottom of the pit, collapsed to her knees, her shoulders slumped as a look of despair spread across her face.
Anik, who had been stroking his white beard, also had a stern look on his face.
「Indeed, if it's a cluster of Kalpavriksha, its "regeneration ability" must be extraordinary too. Furthermore, with its size, it would be difficult to defeat it before it can regenerate.」
Yuuma also frowned upon hearing Anik's words. Everyone here, including Rui and Akito, had nearly exhausted their magical power.
The firepower needed to kill the giant tree was simply beyond the reach of humans.
Yuuma stood up and looked at Rui, who was next to him.
「I'll go. The only way to deal with this is to burn it all down in a short amount of time.」
「However, the problem is the time left you have for using 『Metallization』...」
Rui spoke with a pained look on his face. Yuuma had used 『Metallization』 thirteen times to get here. He could only transform once more, and for only five minutes.
It seemed that using 『Metallization』 early on had left them with no room to spare. Still, there was no choice but to push forward.
「Are you sure?」
Anik asked in worry.
「Yes, this is my job after all.」
As Yuuma stood at the edge of the cliff and prepared to proceed, a voice called out from behind him.
「WAIT A SECOND!」
When he turned around, he saw Kayla with a serious expression on her face.