Jujtusushi 271.2
Chapter 271: To The Lowest Floor 3
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
R1[1-3], R2[4-6]
Part 4
「A malfunction in the tower’s teleportation? But if that were the case, it should’ve reset to somewhere much closer… Ah, honestly, why does everything have to be such a hassle?」
Looking at the ruined Fairy Plaza and the expanse of jungle, Kotori felt a sudden surge of frustration at how things refused to go her way.
「Are we really in the lowest level Takanashi-san?」
Because of that, her reply to Yuuto was delayed by a beat.
「Takanashi-san?」
「Ah, s-sorry, Souma-kun! I am just as surprised as you too, it’s a bit different from what I was expecting. But the teleportation was definitely working! This is without a doubt the lowest level!」
She hastily covered it up with a lie on the spot.
That’s right, even if she’d been sent to the outer rim, far from her destination, the fact remained that she had safely reached the lowest level.
Since that was the case, it was simply a matter of pushing on through the jungle, tedious though it might be. If anything, she could count herself lucky — she was fully prepared for survival.
That said, even if it had been for the sake of her act, kitting out the entire class had been a task she’d carried through with her blood boiling. If the poisoning had worked, she wouldn’t have had to bother with anything so tiresome. The very thought of a certain cheeky shaman’s face stirred her anger all over again.
「Ah, look! That tower, I’ve got a feeling there might be something about it!」
Some time after setting out from the ruined Fairy Plaza, Minami spotted a tower.
According to Kotori’s sensing, that tower still had a faint trace of functionality left. She already knew the layout of the lowest level, but… If she explained it to Yuūto as though she’d only just learned it by accessing this place, that should do the trick.
Either way, plenty of her classmates were still alive.
Before escaping, she had to spur the hero’s awakening as much as the Goddess Elysion desired. At the very least, she needed to awaken him once again and ensure the manifestation of his third unique skill.
To that end, she absolutely had to get him to challenge the lowest level’s boss.
「What did you find, Takanashi-san?」
「Uhm, Souma-kun, the thing is————」
The Heavenly Gate located in a chamber beneath the huge tower at the centre of this lowest-level area.
That tower, known as the 『Central Tower』, sits at the very deepest part of the vast dungeon complex and serves as its central control hub.
That said, the Central Tower now serves only one purpose, as the final boss chamber standing before the Heavenly Gate.
「————It’s all right, there’s still a bit of distance to go, but the tower with the Heavenly Gate is definitely up ahead!」
「I see, thank goodness.」
She wouldn’t tell Yuūto that a powerful final boss, the kind you could call the last boss, was waiting in there.
It wasn’t on the level of the Yamata no Orochi, but the final boss was still strong enough to claim lives of the other classmates without fail.
But telling him that now would be a bad move. Worst case, Yūuto might give up on using the Heavenly Gate and suggest escaping on foot with everyone instead.
Since she saw little chance of sending everyone through the Heavenly Gate, there was no reason to risk their lives just to get there. If he gave up before entering the tower, she would lose her chance to fulfil her mission.
That said, if it came to it, she could seal off all teleportation from the lowest level, cutting off any retreat entirely… But for the time being, it was better not to take unnecessary measures or give away information.
This was her last chance to fulfil her mission. Failure was not an option.
「For the time being, let’s rest here for the night. We know for sure there’s a goal ahead, so let’s not rush.」
「You're right. I'll go and inform everyone.」
Thus, they decided to camp at the tower that day.
Having emerged from the jungle, the classmates felt a twinge of unease, but upon learning that the Heavenly Gate was definitely ahead, a sense of relief settled over them.
For today, they could afford to sleep easy. The day they would be offered as sacrifices for the hero was drawing near.
===
The next day, they set out from the tower.
Kotori estimated that it would take about a full day’s walk to reach the tower. No particularly powerful monsters had attacked them along the way; including yesterday, only natural creatures adapted to the jungle had appeared.
That was to be expected. Unlike other areas, the lowest level hadn’t been adjusted to control monster spawns.
Since it was abandoned, this place had been left entirely to nature. The jungle had grown unchecked, and a new ecosystem had simply formed in this place.
The only important thing was the Central Tower with the Heavenly Gate. As long as it was functional inside, nothing else mattered.
They made steady progress through the jungle, and just as half a day had nearly passed, it appeared.
「W-WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT!?」
Suddenly, the jungle opened up. That in itself wasn’t particularly strange. Structurally, this area marked the start of the tower’s jurisdiction. It wasn’t surprising that there might be measures in place to prevent the jungle from encroaching further.
So, it was fine as long as there’s nothing there.
The problem was that something shouldn’t be there, was there.
「Such tall rampart...」
Sakura drew in a breath and whispered as much.
Yes, what awaited before them was a tall rampart. A stone rampart, built up like the ramparts of a Japanese castle.
From Kotori’s perspective, it was clear that the tall rampart wasn't magically appeared out of nowhere. It was made from natural stone, not part of the dungeon’s architecture, and its height, around thirty metres tall, rivalled that of Osaka Castle, Japan’s tallest rampart.
Kotori had no idea about the existence of the rampart in this place.
Even in the data she had checked at the tower yesterday, there was no sign of such terrain or structures. Originally, the area around this tower was nothing but flat ground. If anything should be here now, it should only be the trees of the jungle that covers the lowest level.
Yet here was a clearly man-made stone rampart, surrounded by cleared land from opening the jungle.
There was no need for 『Sage』 vocation for everyone to make an educated guess about this situation.
That someone, or a group, had lived here and built this rampart.
The question being: who were those group? ——— And it didn't take that long for the answer to appear right before their eyes.
「That's, goma.」
A group of armed goma could be seen marching on top of the stone rampart.
Leading the group was a govu, the warrior class of goma, followed by standard goma. It wasn’t an unusual formation, but the govu was clad in armour and wielded a steel spear, while even the ordinary goma carried leather light armour and well-crafted iron weapons.
「They’re not just a hunting party, those are clearly soldiers guarding the rampart.」
「Is the "Central Tower" that Kotori mentioned the tall tower we can see beyond that wall?」
「I guess this is a fortress city built around the tower.」
Goma was wild monsters. Precisely because they were not under the control of the dungeon, their actions couldn’t be tracked by the ruins’ systems.
Yes, even if they’ve formed a massive settlement around the tower, it would never show up in the ruins' information search.
「Come to think of it, that Goma settlement we raided in the uninhabited island area, Momokawa-kun said they were offering tribute to someone called Ouma, who’s like a king of the Goma, didn’t he?」
「I see, so that means that Ouma is in this place.」
「Yeah, he might be somewhere in the Goma Kingdom.」
"Don’t screw with me, you bastards", Kotori cursed inwardly.
The new irregular that stood in the way of the 『Sage』 carrying out the mission of the gods was nothing more than a wild monster, the same goma they had been fighting from beginning to end.