Unit A's right leg snapped and it stumbled, but the broken limb melted like liquid.
It pooled at the fracture point, merged back together, and became a right leg once more.
Slowly, it stood back up.
— "I-I definitely broke it! W-woof, that's weird!"
"...A liquid organism?"
There'd been something like this in that sequel movie about humanoid mechanical weapons attacking from the future.
My knife had been dissolved, but Juicy's hands hadn't been.
Knives... edged weapons didn't work? Or maybe they just hadn't. Careless of me.
My carelessness had ruined another knife. And so fast — a new personal record.
Absolutely nothing to be proud of. A memory I'd rather Banish right out of my head.
Ah, first one of the month already. I really hated that kind of thinking.
Unit A didn't attack right away, but Juicy charged straight at it.
She attacked bare-handed, over and over, and Unit A blocked each strike. Unarmed really did seem to work.
— "W-woof, w-woof-woof, woof! This monster is tough! Then — woof, here I go! This is my ultimate—!"
Juicy backed up a step, then launched herself into the air with everything she had, spinning half a turn.
What was she planning? She extended her leg at the apex, driving the tip of her foot into the side of Unit A's neck and twisting.
— "Brain Stem Assault Kick!"
Having landed the move, she spun around gracefully and touched down.
— "Waaaaah! I-I did it! I win!"
A victory howl. Juicy looked extremely happy. Good, good.
The kick that followed that move name was brutally vicious. If a human had taken something like that, they'd be dead for sure.
It was a true killing blow.
The dummy's head had been split open. Kind of gross.
"Huh, doesn't it revert back?"
The headless Dummy A just lay there. Was it dead?
Juicy spoke up.
"Arf! Wof, sir. I saw the head with [Weak Point Analysis]! So the head is its weak point!"
"Eh? [Weak Point Analysis]?"
"Um, um, I let it slip! B-but you'll be fine, Wof, sir!"
What kind of reasoning was that? I let out a wry smile.
"...Ah, so it's your Relic, Juicy."
"Arf! Yes. It's, um, my Relic."
[Weak Point Analysis]huh. Sounded pretty strong.
Analysis meant seeing through it, right? Seeing through a weak point... That was convenient.
I wanted to know the details, but asking another person about their Relic outside of an emergency was bad manners.
And even if it was a surprise, I'd learned about her Relic.
In that case, I thought it was only fair to tell her about one of mine, too.
The me from a little while ago would have just stayed silent.
That was a knife-edge Wof, 13 years old, whose mind was overloaded with no room to spare.
But I was different now.
Now I was Wof, 13 years old — a knife properly sheathed in a mind with a lighter load and room to spare.
"Actually, I have a Relic too, you know."
"Waf? Ah, ah, really?"
"Yeah. It's a Relic called Danger Discernment. It lets me see how dangerous someone is by their color."
"Wan! That's so useful!"
Strange.
I happened to take another look at Juicy-san through Danger Discernment, and the colors had shifted.
The white and reddish-black were still there, but the proportion of white had grown.
The red and black had shrunk to about half and half... What did that mean?
Maybe I'd ask the witch about it once we got out of here.
My master did know all sorts of things, even if her smug know-it-all attitude was annoying.
After that, we kept defeating the unaffiliated monsters we ran into.
The unaffiliated all stood the same height. Some had tails, some had horns, and some had nothing at all — every variation imaginable.
But they all shared one thing in common: they were humanoid.
"Wan! This is my signature move! Medulla Twisting Guillotine Kick! Wan!"
She shouted out some absurd technique name again and kicked over a mobile mimic.
She did a backflip, spun around, and struck another pose with a snap. Yep. Cute. Champion.
That alone wasn't enough to finish it, so I stabbed the heart inside the box with my knife.
A mimic's weak point was either its hinges or the heart inside the box.
Still, I'm not used to it. The teeth packed inside the box are gross and terrifying.
Honestly, when I went in for the kill, my heart was pounding — what if it bit me?
But still. Being the only one who knows about that tragedy, it's...
A mimic beneath the Junkyard. Now that's something to ponder.
It makes sense, honestly. Given their nature, it wouldn't be strange for them to end up in the Junkyard.
"You were magnificent, Juicy."
"Um, um, uh, Lord Wof, your knife work was magnificent too! A-and that throw during the fight with the construct earlier. Woof! Truly magnificent!"
"Oh, yeah, that."
When I fought that construct with demon-like horns earlier, I pulled out the self-defense technique the witch taught me directly.
I grabbed its arm and threw it down. Barely any strength required. In fact, it's a basic technique that uses your opponent's force against them.
The witch's own "Rear Throw."
It's straight-up aikido, but I was overjoyed when I managed to pull it off.
Because it's the kind of move you dream of trying at least once in your life.
And using it on a monster for the first time and having it actually work — inside, it was a full-on Samba Carnival.
"..."
"Um, um, Lord Wof. What's wrong? You've got a scary look on your face!"
"No, I was just thinking about something. Nothing important."
No, it was actually quite significant. The scenery hadn't changed — still surrounded by junk.
So this must be the Junkyard.
But at the same time, I realized something. The dungeon's monsters were attacking.
This... isn't the 1st floor of the dungeon.
A mobile mimic — I'm pretty sure I heard those only show up on the 6th floor or below.
So does that mean we're that deep?
Thinking about it too hard feels dangerous. Let's just skip that.
Still, isn't Juicy strong?
A mobile mimic. At least mid-rank copper class.
Not that I should be the one to say it, but this isn't a monster a thirteen-year-old kid can beat.
Copper class may not come with a Relic, but you're still fighting a monster.
A Relic with [Weakness Sight], plus the werewolf race's natural athleticism and her wild temperament, I suppose?
"Wild" for a marquis's daughter? But she really runs on pure instinct.
That said, even though she's strong, solo would be rough.
She's dealing damage, but she can't finish it in one hit.
By the way, I'm the finisher.
I stab the monsters that Juicy knocks down. That's the full extent of my role.
Since I'm running on base equipment, I mainly use [Banish].
I could tell them it's a Relic, but nobody really asks, so I just leave it.
Good thing this world isn't the kind where you get experience points.
If it were, I'd be a total EXP thief. I wonder if there are worlds like that.
And so, taking short breaks along the way, we made our way toward the purple light.
By the way, I do occasionally use [Wheel of Fortune].
Several green ones. No yellow or blue.
Since we're here, I tossed a few of the greens into my pouch.
They're all small fry, but they should still bring in some money. They should, at least.
The purple light had grown so much it was almost unrecognizable from how thin it had been at first.
We must be getting close to the destination by now. What could possibly be there?
After a short break and a bit more walking, the scenery changed noticeably.
The endless chain of junk gave way to rough, rocky surfaces.
"U-Um, Wof. Is this a... cave?"
"Looks like it."
Scattered here and there were pieces of junk—things that looked like shields, armor, and broken swords.
Just how far do we need to go?
After more breaks between fighting Base Forms, we finally arrived.
The intense purple light. There it is. The source of that light.
But our joy was short-lived. Something stood in front of the light.
"Grrrrrr— woof woof! Wof, enemy!"
"...I've confirmed it."
Tension runs through me. It stands between us and the purple light.
An enemy. Black in color. I shudder. This one is strong.
The enemy was a Base Form. But while every Base Form we'd encountered before had been the same height, this one was different.
It was tall and big. Muscular, you might even say.
It even carried a weapon.
It wasn't just reshaping its arm into something weapon-like. It was firmly gripping an actual weapon.
An axe. A heavy, faded, old crescent-shaped axe — the kind a dwarf might wield.
I could see ornamental carvings along the blade.
Something about this axe screamed OOPArt. It grew a pair of formidable black horns and a long, slender tail.
Base Form Omega. That's what I decided to call it.
If the previous one was A, the natural next step would be Z, but I went with Alpha and Omega instead.
It also carried a certain sense of finality.
Still, that tail wasn't reptilian. A thin, whip-like tail… Could it be a cow?
The horns were thick, too. Ox horns. And its feet were cloven — only two claws. Definitely bovine.
A bovine humanoid… Could this be the Base Form of a Minotaur?
Great. That explained why it was both black and strong.
"So there's a boss right in front of the treasure, huh. Base Form Omega."
Dungeons weren't supposed to have floor bosses or anything like that, if I remembered correctly.
However, it was said that powerful monsters would nest near or block the path to particularly valuable treasures.
So it was something like this.
"Um, um, um, Master Wof. That Base Form Omega. I can't appraise its weaknesses. It's strong."
Juicy's Relic, Weakness Appraisal, was a handy ability.
But it wasn't the case that it could appraise just anyone's weaknesses.
It only worked on those weaker than the user. Against someone stronger, you generally couldn't see their weaknesses at all.
Fight them, deal damage, and once they're weaker than you — that's when their weaknesses become visible.
For inorganic targets, it seems durability is one of the baselines, but the point is they have to be weaker than you in some respect.
If you can't see anything from the start, that means they're stronger than you.
Which leads to the conclusion that Omega's true form is stronger than both me and Juicy right now.
A monster carrying an OOPArt.
It reminded me of the hobgoblin from the Mōryu grass incident. They haven't adapted to it, have they?
"Juicy. That one's a strong enemy. So let's come up with a plan."
"Wan! Are you okay? I think it's noticed us too!"
"It probably has. But since it hasn't attacked, I'm guessing it won't come after us as long as we don't get closer."
Even from a position where we could see it, there was no movement. It probably had a territory — a nesting ground.
There was something it had to protect, so it wouldn't leave that spot. That was the feeling I got.
"Aha aha, I see. Wan wan! As expected of Lord Wof! What a brilliant insight!"
Juicy. This one. She really heaps on the praise, huh.
Getting praised like this by an idol — I totally get how that would make someone feel alive and motivated to keep pushing forward.
"Th-thanks. So the opponent is a power type. A so-called brute."
"Aha aha! A brute! That's the word Togo-chan always uses when talking about me!"
"Ahaha... So I think the best strategy is to keep them off-balance. Power types have overwhelming offensive output, but as a trade-off, many of them are slow. We keep them off-balance, accumulate damage on them, weaken them, and then we can see through their weaknesses. That's what I think would work best. Juicy, do you have anything?"
Juicy immediately raised her hand.
"Aha aha! I... I really want to take them down one-on-one. But it's frustrating. Their muscles, their strength, even their pump power — they're all above mine. It's so frustrating!"
"Pump power?"
"When you concentrate your muscle usage, woof, your muscles temporarily expand! That Omega Clone — even in that regard, it surpasses me! It's so frustrating!"
She's genuinely upset about it, but I have no idea what she's talking about.
Anyway, it seems like the plan should work without issues.
The one thing I'm worried about is that I can't use my knife.
The Clone melts knives. Or more precisely, it melts metal.
I decided to use Banish. I'd been thinking up a new technique for just this kind of situation.
"Juicy, are you ready?"
"Y-yes! I... I'll do my best!"
"Please don't push yourself too hard. Retreating when you sense danger — that takes courage too."
"I understand! But still, woof, I'm going for it!"
She's brimming with motivation. Her eyes are sparkling — absolutely sparkling. I can feel her iron will to defeat it no matter what.
I really wish she wouldn't overdo it, though.
Honestly, I'm already regretting bringing her all the way out here.
I've been deliberately ignoring it, but she's not a dog — she's a marchioness, above even the Werewolf Clan.
Grand Duke. Duke. Marquis. Count. Viscount. Baron.
In other words, she holds the third rank of nobility. That means she's third in noble political power in this country.
She's unquestionably a top-tier aristocrat.
If anything happened to her, my life would be nothing more than a candle flame about to gutter out.
I'm pretty sure there's a crime of lèse-majesté.
Still, Juicy's speed is anything but ordinary — she earned that "dog" label for a reason.
The opponent, on the other hand, was a power type. Speed was its weak point — it paid for all that strength.
If the two of us fought together and kept it guessing, we'd be fine. Totally doable.
That's what I used to think, anyway.
Full spirit. Full momentum. Brimming with courage, we closed into the Raw Omega's range.
"RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARGHHHHH!"
The Raw Omega roared its intimidation display. I dove toward its feet without hesitation. Good.
First, I took a step — and Juicy went flying from the Raw Omega's tackle.