From the 46th to the 49th floors, the stage was a Dwarven mining town. Dwarves, shorter than humans but with stocky builds, made for excellent blacksmiths thanks to their strength. Since they were also well-suited as miners, they often—or rather, used to—build their mining and blacksmithing towns at the foot or on the slopes of iron-rich mountains.
The starting point was near the mountain, close to the mine entrance.
"Alright. The problem is the number of enemies. Let's split up and take care of them," said the veteran warrior, Kent, as soon as they exited the staircase.
His tone was incredibly casual. Although Ren felt she was in no position to judge, she couldn't help but wonder, "Is this okay?"
Their challenge to the 46th floor came just three days after the members were assembled. This was because Kent himself had insisted, "It's faster to do actual combat than to waste time on coordination training. Let's just go to the 46th floor and fight."
The party was certainly well-equipped in terms of fighting power. Since an experienced, fierce survivor who had made it this far was suggesting it, Ren decided to go along with the plan. Frankly, even if Kent and the Sage were useless, Ren's group could still fight on their own.
"You're right. The number of enemy units here is large. The particularly troublesome one is the magic unit that advances via a completely separate route," the Sage agreed.
The mining town was easier to defend than a town on flat ground because it was protected by the mountain behind it. To compensate for this disadvantage, the enemy would attack the town from three directions and simultaneously send yet another unit into the mountain.
"This unit, composed of mages and shamans from various races, aims to collapse the mountain using fire magic. The rock is already weakened from mining. If they set off repeated explosions, the mountain will collapse and swallow the town," the Sage explained.
"It's annoying because they sneak around so far and start working quietly. The first time, we were completely fooled," Kent added.
"Wait, what happened then?"
"Naturally, the subjugation failed. We had to move the earth and rocks just to get home."
"Your Fireball magic was useful then."
"And your brute strength, too. Your muscles aren't useless if you can do that much work manually."
In short, Ren's party had to divide into four teams.
"Then Shion and I will handle the magic unit."
"Are you sure? They are masters of long-range attacks," Kent asked.
"No problem. We are light on our feet since it's just Lord Ren and me," Shion replied.
"Shion can run on air, so she probably has the best mobility," Ren said.
Their firepower was also absurd. Given that, the veterans nodded easily.
"Then, the left flank will be me, Iris, Lady Meteor, and Lady Huuli. Since our abilities are similar, I think coordination will be easy." (Iris's mother, Anna, spoke here).
"Alright. Then I'll take the center with this guy."
"The right flank will be left to the remaining two (May and her mother). The right flank is closest to the secondary unit. Ren and Shion, please hurry and support May's team once you're finished."
"Understood," Ren said.
With the plan decided, they immediately began moving. They decided not to use the strategy of "contacting the townspeople to solidify their defenses" this time. After all, their opponents were Dwarves. A dark Elf like Meteor had the worst possible compatibility with them. In addition, the Dwarves were generally on alert for attacks anyway, so they would fight without any warning. This suggested the world was already in a state of war.
"Let's go, Shion."
"Yes, Lord Ren."
Ren straddled the giant Shion, and they quickly soared into the sky.
Heading toward the direction the Sage had indicated, they indeed found the enemy. A magic unit centered around Goblins, Lizardmen, and Dark Elves. Although called a "small elite force," their number was close to fifty. Since every one of them was a magic user, they were like artillery pieces or heavy weapons walking around in human form. They must have been vigilant, as they immediately noticed Ren's group flying in from the mountain direction. They all stopped and began preparing spells.
However, stopping was convenient for Ren's group.
"Foxfire!"
"Magic Arrow!"
Firepower was the top priority here. Literally running through the sky, Shion rained down nine-by-five, or forty-five, Foxfire attacks, and Ren unleashed a hundred-by-three, or three hundred, Magic Arrows. The area was filled with light, making their eyes flash. A cleric-type enemy mixed in the group instinctively raised a shield to protect its comrades, but it was impossible to block all the magic. Over 20% of the enemies were hit directly and vanished.
They avoided the barrage of counter-attacks by running and changing elevation. Before the enemies could finish preparing their next spell, Ren and Shion changed direction for their second attack.
"Since their numbers have dropped, it should be easier to aim...!"
When the enemy numbers were halved, Ren jumped off Shion. Shion continued to race over the enemies, and both of them separately evaded the counter-attacks. They bracketed the enemy formation and closed the distance before the enemy's confusion could subside.
Ren quickly finished off the opponents by slashing them with her tail, kicking them with her feet, and hitting them with single Mana Bolts and Foxfire attacks. Since the unit consisted only of magic users, they were weak against enemies closing in, and their numbers quickly dwindled until they were annihilated.
They quickly collected all the dropped items and stored them in the storage.
"That finished surprisingly fast."
"We must not be complacent, Lord Ren. The fact that this was easy for us means the other units must be facing much stronger enemies," Shion warned.
"You're right. We need to go support May's team."
They mounted Shion again and flew toward the enemy's right flank. As they approached, they heard explosions. Ren initially thought this unit also had a considerable number of mages, but it turned out the explosions were being generated by their allies.
Two nearly identical silver-haired beautiful girls were using their cannon-arms to fire the familiar bombs—disposable Fireball-generating devices with fire magic sealed inside—to blow away the approaching enemies.
This was a collaboration between the "shooting stone pellets from the arm" strategy May had used before and the bombs. Since ammunition could be loaded automatically and quickly using the storage, explosions were erupting without pause. It was likely May's mother's idea, but Ren couldn't help but think:
"Do we even need to be here?"
"It looks dangerous to carelessly jump in, actually..."
As expected, the original Golem's caliber was on a different level.
Just in case, Ren helped by raining Drain Arrows down on the enemies from a safe distance, making sure not to interfere with the two. Shion conserved her MP while observing the situation. When the enemy numbers dropped to around thirty and they started closing in on May's team, Ren thought it was time to intervene seriously. Instead:
"This is called Heat Knuckle," May announced.
"Is this a Light Blade? Or maybe a Laser Saber?" May's mother wondered.
May was punching enemies left and right with her heated fists, and May's mother was slicing them with a blade of light generated from her arm.
It was beyond "safe"; Ren felt a little sorry for the enemies. By the time Ren's group approached, there were hardly any enemies left. After taking care of the remaining handful with a token Mana Bolt and Foxfire attack, the battle was over.
"Thank you for the assistance, Master," May said.
"It was fun hunting so many enemies after so long. I'm not useless yet, am I?" May's mother asked.
"Mother, please restrain yourself a little," May sighed.
"Aww. I wasn't even fighting seriously yet."
Perhaps there were only eccentric people among the non-human races, or rather, among those who were still enthusiastically clearing floors above the 40th.
"Well, yeah. Let's go help the old men, for now."
"Yes, Lord Ren. It might be tough for them with just the two of them."
"Really? I think it'll be fine, since a meteor just fell over there."
Ren shuddered. As the four of them approached, the central unit was almost annihilated. Two or three craters marked the ground, and only a few enemies remained. The Sage was waiting in the back with a "Good grief" expression.
Meanwhile, Kent was shouting:
"Hah, is that all!? Hey, you cut down the enemy numbers too much! There's no challenge!" He was swinging his great axe, turning enemies into particles of light.
"You are a noisy fellow. You were the one who told me to be useful sometimes. ...And it seems Ren's group is finished as well. I'm glad you're safe. Now, all that's left is Huuli's team. We must head there quickly."
"No, Sage-sama. In this pattern, it will probably be a surprisingly anticlimactic finish," May predicted.
May was right. Since they had divided the party into four, and this wasn't even the main unit, Huuli, Iris, and Meteor should have been enough to win. With Iris's mother added to the mix, there was no way they could lose.
While they were trying to calm down Kent, who had finished scattering the enemies and was suggesting, "I didn't get enough action, let's go fight another battle later," the three spirit users and the one spirit returned together.
"Welcome back. A tornado seems to have occurred. Was that your doing?" the Sage asked.
"Yes. Thanks to Huuli-san, the area was saturated with wind magic, so the three of us did it." Iris's mother replied.
"No kidding. That was practically cheating," Huuli said.
"...A meteor and a tornado. As expected, monsters can't easily contend with natural phenomena," May's mother said.
It was such an overwhelming victory that Ren started to wonder if the 46th floor was actually low difficulty.
"Hey, old man? If everyone is this strong, shouldn't we be able to advance further?" Kent asked.
"Don't use him as a benchmark. He's a man who never stops training himself and keeps diving into the front lines, despite having a wife and family," the Sage countered.
"Hahahaha. And don't you say that. Your class gets experience from research, doesn't it? Aren't your levels about the same as mine?" Kent shot back.
"I can't possibly match your training obsession," the Sage sniffed.
Leaving the two to their natural quarreling, Ren concluded that they were the best of the best, and it wasn't the case that everyone was this strong.
"Ray and I also do not need to worry about age-related decline. Many people are busy with life and have reduced opportunities for training or have forgotten their fighting instincts," Iris's mother summarized.
With that, everyone decided to return home. They didn't walk back; they used the Sage's teleportation magic. The instant arrival left them stunned. Ren's group thought they were overpowered, but it seemed that other professions could also achieve ridiculous feats when pushed to the extreme.
"By the way, regarding the rewards. Is splitting it evenly between our group and yours okay? We wouldn't mind if you took all of it," Ren offered.
"Splitting it by the number of people is fine. We aren't hurting for money," the Sage replied.
"Yeah. You can take it all, really. Though, maybe we should give Ray enough for consumable supplies." Kent mused.
"I plan on getting my reward separately, so don't worry about it. But since we're here, perhaps I'll get a little extra 'hands-on' reward," May's mother said with a suggestive tone.
"Huh?" Ren reacted.
"Ah, of course, Ren-chan will do it to herself, you know? I'll just watch," May's mother quickly clarified.
"Mother, you are getting too carried away," May scolded.
"Hmm. I think I understand why May-chan has such a unique personality now."
Leaving aside the "hands-on" part, they agreed to pay the four guests a minimum amount for consumables and labor, and Ren's group would take the rest.
Back at the shrine, Meteor, who hadn't been able to talk much due to the presence of outsiders, took a breath.
"At this rate, the 50th floor looks easy, doesn't it?"
"That's not true," the Sage immediately denied.
"I mentioned this before, didn't I? The 50th floor is far more formidable than anything before. We once thought it was the final destination."
"Come to think of it, you did say something like that."
Up until now, the dungeon's difficulty had increased in 5-floor and 10-floor increments. What about a 50-floor increment? There had to have been an enemy like a Final Boss—one strong enough to confuse even the Sage and his contemporaries.
"What kind of enemy appears on the 50th floor?" Shion asked.
"There is only one enemy. A giant creature like an airship, covered in scales harder than steel, that whips its thick, log-like tail to flatten all those who approach. Its fangs can easily crush boulders, and it breathes high-temperature flames from the fire sac in its body. An abnormality that cannot be explained by Earth's ecosystem. The strongest creature that inspires fear even in this fantasy world."
A Dragon.
"The mission is simply to repel the Dragon that attacks the human capital. ...It's a hell that will make you doubt your eyes and wonder if it's the end of the world," the Sage warned.
"That place," which had seemed so far away when they first started conquering the dungeon, was now right upon them.
============
🚀 Want Early Access & Bonus Content?
"Loving this story so far? You can read ALL chapters RIGHT NOW by joining my P4tr3on!
✨ Unlock instant access to the full completed novel
✨ No waiting for daily updates
✨ Support your favorite degenerate author (that's me!)
Only $5.99 for the full experience!
🔗 Check my profile for the Link!!
Free readers - don't worry, I'll still be posting daily updates here. But Pa4r3on members get the VIP treatment!
Your support helps me create more wild stories like this. See you on the dark side! 😈"