Level Eater
Chapter 190

Tatsuro first worked with Cardina to create a combination of magic bullets, explosions, and fire magic, which they fired in sequence at the thirty-two caves in the two-tiered walls on both sides where monsters continued to emerge.

Meanwhile, Ai, Jeanne, and Athena formed a defensive line against approaching monsters, while behind them, Nana cast curse magic to slow down their advance.

Together with Leah, they eliminated any monsters that broke through the defensive line.

However, no matter how many they defeated, the number of monsters didn't decrease but rather increased, with no end in sight.

"This is endless!" (Ai)

"I know, but for now, defeating them is our only option." (Tatsuro)

"Can't we escape? Like climbing over that front wall?" (Ai)

"Although it looks like the sky continues beyond that wall, in reality, the area from that wall to the back wall is the extent of this floor. So think of it as there being nothing beyond that wall!" (Tatsuro)

"No way..." (Ai)

It would be possible to wipe out all visible monsters with powerful area magic.

However, even if they did that, unwanted additional monsters would keep being delivered endlessly.

The situation wouldn't change, and they'd only exhaust themselves unnecessarily.

Ai seemed to understand this, as she had been conserving her energy by taking minimal action and letting Gundari Myoo handle the monsters while maintaining just enough Ki power.

But even if they defeated them efficiently, it was obvious they would eventually be overwhelmed if this continued endlessly day and night.

However, based on the dungeon's nature so far, there had never been an impossible floor to clear.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have provided items to extend the deep-sea adaptation benefit on the previous floor.

Therefore, there must be some way to clear this floor too.

With this in mind, Tatsuro kept his mind working without rest as time passed.

Even trying to search with [Spirit Eyes], the colors of the monsters in front blocked the view deeper in, and it was the same for Leah's eyes.

Dispel magic only showed monster reactions, with nothing hinting at a solution.

The only option left would be to charge into the caves on both sides where monsters were falling and search for their source.

However, charging in while forcibly clearing monsters without any certainty carried high risks.

(If only we could get more information... Wait... Spirit Eyes could limit its function to get a view similar to magic vision. Could I focus on seeing only what I want to see?)

"Cardina, please handle magic control for a while." (Tatsuro)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

Tatsuro left the explosion and fire magic generation to Cardina while releasing only the magical power, then activated Spirit Eyes and began controlling its field of vision.

(First, I've memorized these monsters' colors, so I don't need to see them. Disappear, disappear-) (Tatsuro)

As if broadcasting some suspicious psychic waves, he willed only the monsters' colors to fade, and gradually the colors of their power faded until they all disappeared.

(I know Ai and the others' colors too, so I don't need to see them. Disappear, disappear-) (Tatsuro)

Perhaps due to getting used to the control earlier, he succeeded in removing them from view more smoothly than with the monsters.

Then only a dark world spread before his eyes.

But within it, he could see thin membrane-like colors in thirty-one locations, presumably deep in the caves.

And in the remaining one location.

In what appeared to be deep inside the second cave from the left in the second tier of the left wall, there was not a membrane but a hexahedral elongated color.

(If one is different, there must be something there) (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro deactivated [Spirit Eyes] to return his vision to normal, and saw everyone's backs.

"Everyone, I've found something that seems to be the source of these monsters." (Tatsuro)

"Really? Where, where?" (Ai)

"In the second tier on the left side, second cave from the left, there's something different deep inside." (Tatsuro)

"Then shall we head there first?" (Ai)

"Yeah. I'm going to blow these guys away now. Then before they swarm us, let's charge in there at once. Ai, carry me, and Nana carry Leah as we run." (Tatsuro)

"Got it!" (Ai)

"Understood!" (Nana)

While dealing with monsters, Ai and the others kept in mind where to go so they could move immediately.

To clear out the large centipede-type monsters in the area, Tatsuro readied his staff and covered them with a dome of flame and wind.

The outer layer of flames burned any monsters that touched it, keeping them at bay, but they recklessly charged in any way, covering the dome with black carbon.

However, this wasn't a problem, so Tatsuro created another windless dome inside the wind dome and expelled the air between the two wind layers to create a vacuum.

After deploying the magic for their protection, he then began deploying destruction magic.

He developed a combination of light, fire, wind, and explosion magic outside the dome, creating a thick red light plate that followed the terrain's shape with only a hole above where their dome was.

"I've taken sound precautions, but cover your ears anyway." (Tatsuro)

"We're immune to that stuff, so I'll cover Dad's ears!" (Athena)

"I see. Thank you." (Tatsuro)

"I'll cover Mother's ears, so please hold Father ready to move immediately!" (Nana)

"Understood. Thank you, Nana." (Ai)

Athena's index finger entered Tatsuro's ear, and Nana's materialized index finger plugged Ai's ear.

And Leah similarly covered her own ears near Nana.

"Alright, here we go. When the magic ends, I'll immediately dispel this dome, so jump out and charge into the cave at once."

After confirming once more, Tatsuro slammed the thick red light plate floating in the sky down to fit the terrain below.

The moment it touched the ground, a massive explosion occurred outside the dome, scattering flames and hot wind everywhere, wiping out even the monsters inside the caves.

Though the vacuum layer reduced the sound, they could feel the ground shaking from the explosion.

When all monsters momentarily vanished from the area, Tatsuro dispelled the magic, and everyone simultaneously flew up to the second tier on the left side and entered the second cave from the left.

Then Tatsuro took out an iron ingot and made a cover with air holes too small for monsters to pass through, blocking the entrance.

After that, he lit up the cave interior with light magic as they hurried deeper inside.

Then they encountered a mixed group of surviving monsters and newly created ones swarming toward them.

"Here they come already!" (Tatsuro)

"Push through!" (Ai)

Tatsuro pointed his staff and released a laser matching the cave's circumference, mowing them down as they advanced about twenty meters before the path gradually inclined upward.

As they continued up the gentle slope, burning monsters with the laser, they soon reached a dead end where monsters were dropping down from above the wall.

"There must be something generating monsters above that dead end." (Tatsuro)

"Couldn't you tell with Dispel magic?" (Ai)

"No. Even now I can only detect monster reactions." (Tatsuro)

"There must be some trick to it." (Ai)

While keeping the laser pointed at the wall as they approached the dead end, he then created a high-temperature light plate above to prevent monsters from falling down.

The monsters were incinerated the moment they touched the plate.

To prevent them from accumulating, he stored the dead ones in the Infinite Item Field as they died.

While raising that plate upward, when he tried to bring it near the hexahedron he had seen with [Spirit Eyes], the magic seemed to destroy something, making a sound like breaking glass.

At that moment, the object-generating monsters became detectable by Dispel magic.

(Was there something blocking detection magic? Well, it seems to be broken now, so let's think about that later) (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro stopped raising the light wall about one meter up from the dead end, as the hexahedron-generating monsters were just above that point.

Not wanting to make the situation worse by destroying it, he made a hole in the heat-light plate and sent Dispel magic through it, analyzing it together with Cardina.

The analysis revealed it to be a stone imbued with magical power, existing only to generate monsters. With this result, he unhesitatingly shot it with a laser.

The hexahedral object vanished, and the monster generation ceased.

"Phew, this should stop additional monsters for now." (Tatsuro)

"Good work~" (Ai)

When Tatsuro dispelled the magic and looked up, he saw thirty-one white circles drawn in a ring on the wall above, with each circle creating a vacuum-like suction.

"It seems those white circles were sucking in monsters created here and sending them to the other caves." (Tatsuro)

"Sending them... like transfer magic?" (Ai)

"Something similar, I think. It's probably using dungeon functions rather than monster abilities." (Tatsuro)

"Indeed, even going to the next floor could be called transfer magic in a way." (Leah)

"As usual, anything goes in this place" (Nana)

"Well anyway, monsters won't increase anymore, so let's clean up the ones outside. Then maybe we can proceed to the next floor." (Tatsuro)

As everyone was about to leave, Ai suddenly felt a tingling sensation at the nape of her neck and instinctively looked back.

|Skill: [Crisis Detection Lv.1] has been acquired.|

"Huh?" (Ai)

"What's wrong, Ai?" (Tatsuro)

"...There's still something!" (Ai)

More than acquiring the skill, Ai was certain her bad feeling were right because she had learned Crisis Detection.

As everyone turned to look up behind them following Ai's gaze, they saw the previous hexahedron trying to resurrect itself, now one size larger.

"What, it's reviving?" (Leah)

"That's—!" (Tatsuro)

When Tatsuro tried to destroy it with a laser, the laser was deflected.

"It deflected Father's attack!" (Athena)

"Everyone, let's retreat for now! Just destroying it will only strengthen the monsters!!" (Leah)

"What do you mean— ah, no time for explanations, huh!" (Tatsuro)

"Tatsuro, let's do as Leah says for now!" (Ai)

"Right. She seems to know something!" (Tatsuro)

It was clear from the deflected laser that simply destroying it wouldn't work.

Though Tatsuro's Dispel magic had only shown it as a monster generation device.

So they hurriedly retreated the way they came.

However, the monsters that had previously been merely meter-class centipedes were now being generated with burning red bodies.

They breathed fire and seemed to have developed resistance to Tatsuro's lasers, as they could no longer be instantly incinerated.

"They're definitely stronger than before..." (Tatsuro)

"I wish they'd stop breathing fire!" (Ai)

Though Tatsuro and Cardina's anti-magic barrier prevented them from being burned, they couldn't do anything about the temperature generated, turning the cave interior into a sauna.

Leah said nothing but had beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Almost there. We've reached where we put the cover when we entered, so let's blow them away along with the monsters on the other side. Cardina, Jeanne!" (Tatsuro)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

"Neigh" (Jeanne)

Tatsuro boosted a combination of wind and magic bullet magic with light magic and fired it at the iron plate cover.

Upon impact with the cover, it released a turbulent stream of wind toward the cave entrance, blowing away the monsters there.

And so Tatsuro and the others leaped out through the now monster-free area.