Striking straight at the heart.
The brain was shredded.
This colossal creature, standing a full three meters tall, had its final wail stuck in its throat. Its original berserk momentum instantly turned into uncontrolled inertia.
The massive body collapsed like a mountain of meat, crashing to the ground with a boom.
Dust rose up from the floor.
Immediately after, the Orc turned into black ash.
...
Just as Kikakujou Mary flicked the bloodstains off her sword.
"ROAR—!"
A rock to Kikakujou Mary's rear-left suddenly exploded.
A slightly smaller Orc charged out from there!
Its thick arms held a spiked club the thickness of a thigh high in the air. Utilizing the advantage of a sneak attack, it brought the weapon down with a vicious gust of wind, aiming straight for the back of Kikakujou Mary's defenseless head.
If this hit landed, let alone a head, even an iron melon would be smashed into sludge.
"Mary!"
Onigawara Rin saw this the moment she turned around, her pupils contracting violently.
Fortunately.
The next second.
The scene froze.
Swish!
That Orc, holding the spiked club high and maintaining its smashing posture, stiffened in mid-air.
A sinister grin of imminent success still remained on its face.
Suddenly.
An extremely thin line of blood abruptly appeared on its thick neck, which was usually tough enough to resist ordinary swords.
Psssh—
Fresh blood gushed out like a fountain.
Immediately following that, the massive pig head slid off its neck without any warning, like a piece of overripe fruit.
Thud, roll...
The head hit the ground and rolled twice.
Only then did the massive headless body realize it was already dead.
Poof.
It turned into a cloud of thick black ash and drifted away with the wind.
"Tsukuyo?!"
Onigawara Rin initially thought it was Inaba Tsukuyo who had made the move.
However.
"It was Little Satori who made the move, oh~"
"You need to be more careful next time~"
The one appearing behind the dissipating cloud of black ash was Nomura Satori.
Her eyes were curved into crescents with a smile, looking completely harmless to humans and animals alike.
If one ignored the bloodstains that hadn't yet dried by her feet, she would probably really look like just a cute girl next door.
...
"..."
Watching this scene, Tsubaki, who was standing on a high rock coordinating the overall situation, felt the corner of her mouth twitch slightly.
She looked down at her pocket watch.
"12th Floor..."
"How much time has passed?"
Three hours? Or four hours?
A normal rookie team, even if led by a Lv.2 or even a Lv.3 veteran, would take at least two or three days to push from the 1st Floor to the 12th Floor.
After all, the Dungeon is not a garden stroll. With every floor descended, one must adapt to the new environment, new monsters, and the increasingly heavy psychological pressure.
But this group of guys...
It was simply like they were on a field trip.
And a field trip where they were rushing for time, at that.
From fighting each other for monsters at the start, to later on, as the number and intensity of monsters increased...
She originally thought this would stall these girls for a while.
Unexpectedly.
They actually developed a strangely efficient tacit understanding without any instruction.
Amou Kirukiru was responsible for tanking head-on and attracting firepower.
Onigawara Rin and Hanasaka Warabi, along with that black bear called Kyoubou, were responsible for flank cover and clearing out the trash mobs.
Kikakujou Mary was responsible for precision killing of those that slipped through the net or high-threat targets.
Nomura Satori was a ghost drifting on the edge of the battlefield, specializing in dealing with those campers who liked to sneak attack.
As for Inaba Tsukuyo.
This blind girl was like the anchor that stabilized the seas.
Although she drew her blade very few times, as long as her hand was on the hilt, the rhythm of the entire team was terrifyingly stable.
"How is this a rookie adventurer party..."
Tsubaki looked at the girls below who were even discussing who had killed more just now, and she couldn't help but sigh.
"They are clearly a pack of monsters just released back into the wild."
"I'm afraid it won't be long."
"The middle floors are going to be turned upside down by them too."
...
At the same time.
The surface, Orario.
North Main Street, High-End Commercial District.
Shops stood in great numbers here, their windows displaying rare commodities from all over the world. Even the air was filled with the fragrance of money.
Inside a high-end furniture store named [Heart of Oak].
The air, however, seemed to have solidified.
It was so quiet that only the tick-tock of the wall clock could be heard.
The pot-bellied shop owner, over fifty years of age, was currently taking out a handkerchief and incessantly wiping the cold sweat emerging on his forehead.
—He was truly sweating.
From his perspective, he glanced tremblingly at the customer who had appeared before the counter.
Dressed in standard armor, wearing iron gauntlets.
That beautiful face that was always stern and serious, and a pair of blue eyes.
——[Ganesha Familia] Captain.
——『Ankusha』, Shakti Varma.
If one were to say that in the Dungeon, what monsters fear most are the swords of adventurers...
Then in the commercial district of Orario, what merchants fear most is absolutely a sudden visit from this Military Police Captain.
After all.
Shakti rarely went shopping.
Every time she appeared in a shop fully armed, there were usually only two scenarios:
First, the shop was suspected of smuggling contraband.
Second, the shop was suspected of harboring wanted criminals.
Regardless of which scenario.
It meant one result.
——Seizure!
Gulp.
The shop owner swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, feeling his calves cramping.
He desperately recalled whether there had been any problems with his recent supply channels, or if some blind employee had accepted something they shouldn't have.
...
"Um... Captain Shakti..."
The owner piled up a smile that was uglier than crying, rubbing his hands as he leaned in.
"I wonder what... what official business brings your distinguished self here today?"
"If it is a routine inspection, we will definitely cooperate fully! Cooperate fully!"
"The ledgers are all here; feel free to check them!"
As the owner spoke, he even moved to get the ledgers.
"Not necessary."
Shakti's cold, hard voice rang out.
The owner's heart skipped a beat.
It's over.
Not even looking at the ledgers? Does this mean they already have ironclad evidence and are just going to arrest people directly?!
However.
The next second.
Shakti turned sideways, revealing Haimer behind her.
"I am only accompanying this Lord to purchase some daily necessities today."
"Purchase... daily necessities?"
The owner was stunned.
He blinked his beady eyes twice, looking at the serious-faced Shakti.
Then he looked at Haimer standing to the side, carrying a long spear in hand with a leisurely expression.
His brain crashed for three seconds.
The Military Police Captain... accompanying someone to buy furniture?
What kind of combination is this?
A private visit in disguise?
Or an entrapment operation?
...
Regardless of which it was.
The owner understood only one thing—that is, the identity of this God was absolutely not simple!
To be able to make this Military Police Captain follow behind like a bodyguard, just how big of a background did he have?!
"Ah! So that's how it is! So that's how it is!"
The owner reacted instantly, the smile on his face immediately becoming much more sincere.
"I wonder what this Lord needs?"
"Our store is the premier furniture store in Orario. Whether you want Elven-style rattan weaving, Dwarven-style stone carving, or perhaps that... Amazon-style..."
"Simple ones will do."
Haimer interrupted the owner's torrent of sales talk.
He scanned the dazzling array of high-end goods in the store.
"I want the sturdy and durable kind."
"Preferably the kind that can withstand being tossed around."
After all, thinking of those guys with astonishing destructive power in his Familia, especially Amou Kirukiru who could dismantle a mecha with her bare hands, ordinary furniture probably wouldn't last three days.
"In addition, the quantity must be large."
"I need enough to furnish about seven or eight rooms."
"No problem! No problem!"
The owner nodded repeatedly.
"Then this price..."
"Price is not a problem."
Before Haimer could speak, Shakti spoke up first from the side.
Expressionless, she pulled out a checkbook stamped with the Ganesha Familia emblem from the coin pouch at her waist.
"Put it all on the Ganesha Familia's tab."
"Or I can pay it off directly right now."
"??!"
Hearing these words.
The owner's pupils quaked once again.
____
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