We decided to plan our strategy while eating.
Charging into the dungeon blindly would be pointless.
After all, there were hostages.
Rescuing them had to come first.
"The Night King is in the deepest level."
"Then the hostages are there too…?"
"That's what I think. There are living quarters down there."
Ah, so Riv's metal tent is down there.
"Hey, how many floors does this dungeon go?"
Sheshu stabbed at her pancake with a fork and asked bluntly.
"I believe it goes up to 100 floors."
Beyond that, nobody knew.
"Huh? 100? Do we have to crawl up one floor at a time from the first?"
"That's fine. We have save points."
"Save? What's that?"
"Haven't heard of it either."
I explained how save points worked.
"Every ten floors, your progress is recorded in a memory stone, and you can teleport back to there. Oh, handy."
"Nice system."
"How many floors do you have saved, Lord Axe and the others?"
Munieka asked, sipping her tea elegantly.
"Forty floors, was it?"
"Somethin' like that."
"You haven't even made it to fifty?"
"S-sorry. The floor fifty boss was rough."
Floor fifty's boss. What was it again?
Hmm. I forgot. Maybe Alexander and the others had changed it.
But I felt like it shouldn't have been that strong, since it was only floor fifty.
"Tch. Annoying, but I guess we've gotta start from floor forty."
With this lineup, it should be easy enough.
"But we have to think about the hostages."
"Right."
"Oh! If it's the deepest floor, we can teleport there with the Étranger."
"Oh? That's right. The ship was there."
"...I've got it. I have a great idea."
Sufuu said with a brilliant smile.
"Hmm? Go ahead."
Sheshu gnawed on her pancake with an unimpressed look.
"First, I'll go through the dungeon like normal and knock monsters left and right. While I'm doing that, Sheshu and the others take the ship to teleport straight to the deepest floor. How does that two-pronged plan sound?"
I see. There were a few things that caught my attention, but it was a diversion all along.
"Not bad for you. Anyone else got a complaint?"
"Nope. I think it's a solid plan."
"I ain't got no problem with it, neither."
"Nor do I."
"Me neither."
"Then it's settled."
"Yay!"
"But no going below the 40th floor, and no solo runs."
"...Got it."
"Alright, let's split up then."
We talked it over — who would take the diversion role and who would teleport to the deepest floor.
The result was... I ended up on the team heading to the deepest floor.
Along with me were Sheshu and Munieca. And then... I glanced upward at an angle.
"Beep... beep... singularity... detected... ---beep."
This one too.
The rest formed the diversion team. That side became Thunder Fang with Sofuu.
Rel wasn't there, but it was still Thunder Fang with Sofuu.
The main plan was set, and we'd finished eating.
Now then, off to the dungeon. We're going to save everyone and take down the Night King.
Dungeon deepest level.
A dungeon core was set up at the center, with monsters milling about in the surrounding area.
They were all floor bosses from floors 60 through 90 of the dungeon Wof had once created.
"Is he really coming?"
The figure standing before the dungeon core asked.
Clad in a black robe with the hood pulled low, they were small in stature.
Their voice, too, sounded more like a boy than a man.
"Um, um, well, Master Wof will absolutely come."
"That's right. He'll come for certain."
Juicy and Pakira, standing before the boy, answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
But neither of them was bound.
Neither were the others.
Alexander and his apprentice Mires were still continuing their dungeon development.
In particular, Mires's passion project shopping mall was reaching its final stages.
Ennea was sleeping inside a tent, and Lupinus was taking a shower.
Agaro was having a drinking contest with Riv. So far, Riv was in the lead.
Isibara was watching that drinking contest with great interest.
"Well now. You. Are you really going through with this?"
"Um, um, well, I think you should probably stop."
"Shut up! I said I'm doing it! You understand I can't forgive either of them, right?!"
"Well, yeah."
"...Um, I understand how you feel."
For some reason, Juicy and Pakira were sympathetic toward him.
It happened then.
A window appeared before the dungeon core, showing the figure of Thunder Fang with Sufū.
"Um, um, Sufū!?"
"Why is that one here?"
"Sufū, um, why are you... here..."
"What's that. The ridiculously beautiful girl. Do you know her?"
The boy asked.
"She's this one's sister."
"Um, um, she's my sister."
"Family. Which means they've come."
His eyes glowed purple.
"But 'Thunder Fang'... one is not enough."
"Um, Brother Rel isn't here."
"Hey. He's not here either."
"But if Sufū is here, she should have returned to Hydrangea with the outsider."
"If that's the case, then she must be—"
In that instant, a massive shadow appeared above them.
It's the outsider.
And then — someone jumped down.
Their target was the 90th floor boss.
A muscular humanoid monster with a black bull's head — a Minotaur.
But not just any Minotaur.
"Draaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!"
A devastating saber and longsword slash that used the momentum of the fall.
It was caught and deflected by a black battle axe.
"Heh, just as I thought — not bad!"
The one who landed with a playful backflip was Sheshu.
"W-Wait, Sheshu!?"
"Oh? Is that Sheshu?"
"Hm? What's with you guys? You're looking way too chipper."
"Oh? Sheshu, huh?"
"Agaro? What the hell are you doing having a drinking contest with Riv?"
"Mm... Sheshu, right...?"
"Hey, hey. What's going on here?"
Sheshu drew both swords, confused.
Can you blame her? She'd been under the impression they'd been captured and locked up in some cell.
And then.
"Beep beep beep... beep... beep beep... multiple enemies..."
With a sudden hum, a pink sphere appeared before the boy.
The round object had rings like a planet, and countless smaller spheres floated around it.
It was the Afterlife Vision System β.
"Wh-what is this?"
The boy was startled and bewildered.
Can't blame him. Anyone would be surprised if an object like this suddenly appeared right in front of them.
"Beep beep... —— Welcome to the Afterlife Vision System. The Afterlife Vision System envisions your tomorrow as ideal. It envisions your tomorrow's life as ideal. It paints your tomorrow's future. It exists to make the future you envision tomorrow's ideal ———— Beep beep... boop."
"Huh? Tomorrow's ideal...?"
Just as the boy muttered in stunned disbelief.
The center of the Afterlife Vision System β began flashing red and blue.
The small spheres surrounding it started spinning around and around.
"What's that?"
"Um, um, I've got a bad feeling about this!"
"Hmoh? Gah! That sphere!"
"Riv. What on earth is that, da?"
"Mm... that is... really bad...!"
In that instant, pink lasers danced magnificently.