Though they had been beaten to the punch by the sudden appearance of Earl Eldritch, Ermes and the others entered the dungeon as planned.
Judging by the Earl's attitude, he intended to claim every reward from conquering the dungeon for himself.
To prevent that—it was simple. All they had to do was conquer the dungeon before he did.
Incidentally, conquering a dungeon meant defeating the
Boss
—the leader among the dungeon's monsters, the strongest one dwelling within.
Once that was done, the monsters left without direction would fall into confusion, and a reasonable degree of safety could be maintained until a new Boss was born.
To achieve that, however, they would have to face the swarms of monsters guarding the dungeon's depths—monsters that grew more powerful the deeper one ventured—
"Yagah!"
"Guaaooooh!"
"Giiiaaaaah!"
The journey, surprisingly, went almost smoothly.
"Hup—and there."
The reason, needless to say, was Ermes, wielding magic at the center.
"El. Let me ask again… How exactly do you do that? Is that General-purpose Magic?"
"Yes. Strictly speaking, it's Enhanced Universal Magic. My master developed some of it, and I helped with others."
From Ermes's hands, a dazzling array of multicolored spells shot forth in every direction.
The sight of those spells piercing the monsters with perfect accuracy, eliminating them without a single wasted shot, was nothing short of artistic.
"It's an application of the
Primal Inscription
. Not as versatile as Bloodline Magic, but quite useful, honestly."
"Useful doesn't begin to cover it…"
As the name suggested, these were General-purpose Magic spells enhanced through the use of the
Primal Inscription
.
In terms of raw power alone, they could not rival Bloodline Magic.
But what they lacked in power, they more than made up for with sheer volume of attacks. And above all—the speed afforded by requiring no chant whatsoever.
Targeting the weaknesses of incoming monsters with pinpoint precision, this method achieved results that surpassed even mediocre Bloodline Magic.
Compared to the many nobles who relied on little more than brute force through innate magic, this was a vastly more efficient and elegant approach to spellcasting.
"Everything's going really smoothly."
"That's because the knights are doing a proper job holding the line and acting as shields. Thanks to them, we can focus entirely on offense."
"Ha ha ha! With magic as fast as yours, I'm starting to wonder if we're even needed!"
The hot-blooded knight said this with a wry laugh, but calling them "not needed" was a stretch.
Katia had every reason to trust them. Their individual abilities were high, and their coordination was excellent.
They guarded Katia and Ermes at the center without leaving a single blind spot, refusing to let any monster through.
All Katia had to do was call out the direction of each monster, and Ermes would fire an effective spell at it.
With a wall, a command tower, and a cannon—truly the stability of a fortress—they swept aside the monsters along the way with ease.
Pushing through areas that had previously given them trouble, they made it to the innermost depths of the dungeon.
"That must be… the Boss of this dungeon?"
"Judging from the magic power I'm sensing, there's no mistaking it."
Beyond the narrow passage lay a great hall.
At a distance, they exchanged words as they gazed upon the colossal monster enthroned there.
The first thing that caught the eye was its shell.
Covering the creature in a hemispherical dome, each of the hexagonal plates carved into it gleamed with a metallic sheen that spoke of extreme hardness.
Peering from between the gaps of that shell was a reptilian face armored in equally hard scales. Slit pupils burned with a crimson light like blood, and beneath them sat a ferociously designed jaw lined with razor-sharp teeth that existed solely for the purpose of hunting prey.
"A…
Tortoise-shell Dragon
. In ancient times, it was also called the Black Tortoise—a proper Dragon Species."
"El, you know a lot about monsters?"
"My master dragged me along on plenty of dungeon expeditions. Although, I've never actually fought one based on knowledge alone."
He had been made to read through a great many documents, so he knew monsters by their appearance and name, at the very least.
What's more, beyond the monster, he could faintly make out a glimmer and the pulse of magic power coming from deep within a small chamber.
If that was truly an
Ancient Magical Tool
as the rumors suggested, it made sense that a Dragon Species-level monster would be guarding it.
"This is bad. Who'd have thought there'd be a Dragon Species in here."
"This will certainly be a formidable foe. What shall we do, my lady?"
Katia pondered the hot-blooded knight's words for a moment, then—
"…We're going in. I'm worried about the Earl, and more importantly, I can't even imagine the devastation that would follow if a creature like this made it to the surface."
"Understood."
"But everyone's lives come first. If it looks like we can't win, we retreat immediately and request instructions from my father."
With that characteristic command, the group charged into the great hall in unison.
The Tortoise-shell Dragon noticed them at once. The instant its blood-red eyes recognized Ermes and his companions as hostile presences—
It leaped.
"!?"
Every person there was dumbfounded.
They had let their guard down. They had judged the creature by its appearance.
—Surely that monster couldn't be anything but sluggish.
With casual ease, the Tortoise-shell Dragon shattered that expectation, bounding forward with startling agility before landing with a heavy thud befitting its appearance.
And its landing position—
"The entrance—no, it's sealed off!"
If it looked like they couldn't win, retreat immediately.
As if mocking Katia's command, the creature had accomplished both the intimidation of demonstrating its strength and the sealing of their escape route in a single motion.
Against a monster that possessed both such power and intelligence, Ermes and the others were now locked in battle from the very start.
The fight began, as expected, under considerable disadvantage.
"Th-this—!"
Following standard tactics, the knights tried to form a defensive formation around the two mages, but doing so proved incredibly difficult.
The reason, needless to say, was the Tortoise-shell Dragon's agility.
It wasn't quite so fast that the eye couldn't follow, but it was swifter than any monster they had encountered in this dungeon. One moment's lapse and their formation would be shattered.
They were barely keeping Katia and the others protected, with no opening to land a spell.
And when they finally found a sliver of an opportunity to fire—
"…That's hard."
That was Ermes's reaction upon feeling the impact of his Enhanced Universal Magic striking home.
He had specifically targeted the neck, where the armor appeared relatively thin, yet it had dealt nothing more than a scratch.
If he could land hundreds of hits, perhaps a chance at victory might emerge—but against a high-speed target hitting the narrow neck was already difficult enough. It wasn't realistic.
Others clearly shared this assessment, as the hot-blooded knight called out while blocking an attack.
"Lady Katia! Lord Ermes's magic isn't dealing any effective damage! Please, use your Bloodline Magic!"
"But my magic is too slow! I don't think I can hit it—"
"I'll help. Blood Chain."
Ermes responded to the suggestion instantly. He cut his own finger and flung droplets of blood forward. The moment they glowed in front of the Tortoise-shell Dragon, they became a crimson chain that wound around its neck and pinned it to the ground.
"If it's like this—then Netherworld of Salvation!"
The Tortoise-shell Dragon tore free of the chain with ease, but it had managed to create a slightly larger opening than before.
Seizing the moment, Katia released the Bloodline Magic she had been pre-chanting.
A swarm of spirits from the netherworld materialized and converged upon the beast as a massive clump of magical force.
Due to some unknown reason, she couldn't wield it to its full potential—but Bloodline Magic was still Bloodline Magic. A single high-power, wide-area strike that surpassed Ermes's spells from before. With its stance broken, the Tortoise-shell Dragon couldn't possibly dodge—
—or so it seemed.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
Certain that her spell had hit, Katia looked past the impact and whispered with an expression of despair.
"Not only is it that tough without any armor—but it can use barrier magic too!?"
The Tortoise-shell Dragon had not dodged.
In its place, multiple layers of barriers encircling its neck had caught Katia's spell perfectly.
Naturally, the main body had received not a scratch.
This was what made a monster a monster—what separated it from an ordinary beast.
The term "Monster" was short for "magical creature." They used magic power as their energy source, and possessed an affinity for drawing in high concentrations of magic power.
And among them existed individuals that could wield magic.
High-ranking monsters like this one could sometimes use magic that surpassed even Bloodline Magic—which was precisely why common folk feared them and why noble houses placed their subjugation among the highest of priorities.
Unnatural agility and defense, supplemented further by impenetrable barrier magic.
Moreover, that defensive power doubled as offensive capability. The tail and forearms, covered in hard scales, delivered devastating sweeps with tremendous force that had already driven the knights to the brink of incapacitation more than once.
Without question, this monster was a foe that should be subjugated by a coalition of multiple noble houses.
"Lady Katia!"
Katia's Bloodline Magic had failed to land an effective blow. The hot-blooded knight made his judgment and shouted:
"We'll find a way to break its stance! In that opening—please, retreat with Lord Ermes!"
"Wh—"
That was, in other words—
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm not abandoning you and running—"
"This isn't running! We're going to fetch reinforcements! Other houses—I hate to say it, but we'll have to hope for the Earl Eldritch's aid as well!"
"!"
Indeed, in the current situation, that was the most rational course of action.
But the only person who could potentially lend immediate assistance was Earl Eldritch, somewhere within this dungeon. And being the lord of a neighboring territory, Katia had a general understanding of the Earl's capabilities.
Judging from that, even with the Earl's cooperation, they likely still couldn't defeat this monster.
Then they would need to seek help from outside the dungeon—but no. This dungeon was located deep in the mountains. There was no way to bring reinforcements back in time.
Undoubtedly, the knights would die in the interim.
"That's—"
Unacceptable.
She could not bring herself to abandon the people she was meant to protect and flee.
That was, after all, one of the duties Katia had imposed upon herself since that day.
And so, she—
"…El, I'm sorry for always relying on you."
She asked him for help.
Yurugen had warned her never to recklessly reproduce Bloodline Magic, but now was hardly the time for such reservations.
"Is there anything—anything among your Bloodline Magic that could work against it?"
"…Among Bloodline Magic alone, nothing particularly stands out."
But that was his answer.
The only possibility that came to mind was the
Magic Bullet Archer
, but like the
Netherworld of Salvation
, it would likely be deflected by the barrier magic.
He had other Bloodline Magic in reserve, but most were either not direct attack types or unusable in the confines of this narrow cave—none of them could serve as a decisive blow in this situation.
"How can that—"
"But."
If it didn't have to be limited to Bloodline Magic—
"There is one strike that can pierce that barrier."
"!"
"However, it requires more charge time than even your magic. And a chant is necessary. …Five seconds. If you can stop its movement for five seconds."
Five seconds.
Against a monster with that kind of agility and toughness, it was an extraordinary demand. But—
"…And if I do that, you can definitely take it down?"
"At the very least, I can deliver a blow painful enough for everyone to escape."
Then Katia—
"I'll do it. Betting on you is surely the best chance we all survive."
With that declaration, she relayed her orders to the knights.
…Then he had to deliver.
Over the past five years, he and Rose had ventured through countless dungeons.
The purpose
of all that—the moment to demonstrate the potential of the
Primal Inscription
—was now.
Next time: Ermes's magical debut on the battlefield.