What the heck is that—? I was stunned by the countless pink lasers filling my window.
That completely blew away my surprise at, "Wait, they're on friendly terms? Why?"
What are those pink spheres doing?!
"So it came to this after all."
"Munieka?"
"You really haven't changed at all, you know. I kept quiet about it, but I know all about that."
"Is it because we're both Tier I?"
"That too, but I once formed a party with that."
"Huh, with that?"
"Yes."
With that?
"Wh-why?"
"Simply because it's strong and convenient. I figured it'd be impossible, but when I talked to it, it surprisingly agreed to form a party without any fuss."
So it worked out.
"I'm surprised the other party members didn't have any objections."
"The members at the time were Chaibe. The Witch. And Shiro."
"Oh, wow..."
What a party — the strongest and most terrifying, in every sense of the word.
No wonder these people live at the Witch's house.
"It occasionally panics like that when something unexpected happens."
"Panics?"
"When the 'better life' it enforces gets disrupted, it doesn't know how to handle it, so it ends up panicking like that."
"…What?"
What was that about?
It sounded exactly like a throwing a tantrum.
"It was probably reacting to a situation it didn't expect, so it's lashing out because it doesn't know what to do."
"…Well, nobody expected it to be so relaxed, that's for sure."
But that didn't mean it had to go completely haywire.
"As expected of everyone. You are handling it well, but this can't continue if we want to make progress. I'll go and stop it."
Munieka gave a slight bow, then stepped out of the boat and leaped off without hesitation.
Like Sheshu, she was good at jumping down.
That was quite a height. You could probably die if you messed up.
As for me, I'd wait here for now.
I'd watch the situation through my window.
The chaotic pink lasers were almost beautiful, like cherry blossom petals dancing in the wind.
Each person was handling those lasers skillfully.
Riv deployed a pale green barrier, putting Agaro and Isibara inside for protection.
Sheshu lightly deflected them with a sabre or longsword in one hand.
The black Minotaur next to him was doing the same thing with a battle axe.
The floor bosses were also deflecting the attacks with their own defenses.
The one worth paying attention to was... the Night King. At least, that's probably who it was.
The boy in the black robe had formed Banish into a square shape and was using it as a shield.
His Banish's essence was probably "square" or something like that.
Inside that shield were Juicy and Pakira.
The Night King was protecting the two of them.
—That guy. What is he?
An unexpectedly cordial atmosphere.
Was he an enemy, or an ally?
—Seriously, who on earth is he...?
I had no idea. I didn't recognize him.
While I was still trying to make sense of it all, Munieka landed gracefully on the ground.
She had elegantly dodged the rain of pink lasers pelting down from above.
She was dressed as a maid, but she was a first-class delver known as the "Auto Doll."
The name came from the fact that all her Relics were auto-type.
She specialized in auto-combos — combining multiple auto Relics together.
Having dodged every last shot, she unleashed a barrage of palm strikes on the pink sphere, then finished it off with a magnificent heel drop.
The pink sphere sank into the ground.
'Peep... peep...'
"—Are you awake now?"
'...Peep... peep... peeep...'
The pink sphere slowly rose from the sunken ground.
It hovered there motionless. The round spheres surrounding it had returned as well.
Munieka looked around.
"Everyone. I apologize for the disturbance."
With that, she performed a graceful curtsy worthy of a maid.
"H-Hey. You. Is Wof here?"
"Yes. Master Wof is on the ship."
"Could you tell him to come?"
"What is the matter?"
"I have something to discuss."
"Understood. Would the Night King do?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right."
What's going on? Seems like they're having some kind of conversation.
This Window. For some reason, I can barely hear the audio.
Where's the volume control on this thing? I should ask Riv next time.
Hm. A call? It's from Munieka.
'Hello?'
'Master. The Night King says he has something to discuss.'
'...The Night King? That guy over there is him?'
'Yes. It appears so.'
'I see. I have something to discuss as well.'
'Then we will be waiting.'
The call ended. So it was finally time.
Sigh. I was getting a little nervous.
I teleported and descended to the deepest level.
The moment I appeared, a figure clad in a black robe — a boy — leaped out in front of me.
"About time! You finally came, Wof!"
"...Why are you calling yourself the Night King?"
"Why, you say?"
"And what even are you?"
"Wh-what... am... I... supposed to be...?"
What was this? He looked like he was in some kind of shock.
And along with my words, the atmosphere around us shifted... it felt cold toward me, for some reason.
Even Juicyi-san had that "well, I can see why" look on his face.
What was going on.
"Um..."
"You! Are you serious right now?! You seriously don't remember me?! You're really, genuinely telling me you've forgotten?! No way, come on, tell me you're lying!!!"
"Uh, um... sorry, I have absolutely no idea..."
I answered, somewhat flustered by the sheer force of his outburst.
"S-Sorry. I really don't have any idea."
"You... you little...!!!"
He seemed to have taken such a massive shock that he'd frozen in place.
Is it really that big a deal?
"W-Well now. Even I think that's going a bit far."
"Um, um, um, Master Wof. I think you could at least try to remember a little."
Pakira and Juicy also reprimanded me, albeit gently.
Even so — ugh, hmm. I thought about it seriously.
No good. I had absolutely no recollection at all.
"Sorry."
"...Banish!"
"Whoa!?"
A translucent, square-shaped thing came flying at my head.
I dodged on instinct. No question — that was Banish.
"NOW do you remember?!!"
The boy ripped off his hood, absolutely seething with rage.
And there I saw — wait? Purple eyes? Purple hair?
And a face that somehow looked a little like mine... from the looks of it, about the same age.
Or maybe a year younger... Hah, no way.
"Uncle's secret love child!?"
Sturm. You finally did it!!
No, you already had done it!
But blaming me for it is completely misplaced!
"What noo! Why the hell are you — why don't you get it yet?! You really are the absolute wo rst! Listen up, I'm telling you now! I'm the boss of the 100th floor that you created! I'm a dungeon monster built solely to reproduce some incomprehensible thing called Generous!!! Damn it allll!!!"
"Wh-what!? A dungeon monster!?"
"Huh? I created it? A recreation of Generous... ah."
"Ah."
"Ah, I remember now."
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This chapter marks 500 chapters.
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