Level Eater
Chapter 191

As Tatsuro and his companions emerged from the cave, countless monsters that had been reinforced were gathered in front of them, all baring their fangs at once.

Since they didn't yet have fire magic resistance, Tatsuro used his magic to instantly burn them away and create an escape route.

Before being completely surrounded, they ran to the back wall on the side where the cave wasn't open, ensuring their back was safe from monsters falling from above.

Then a new generation of fire-attribute centipede monsters began to swarm, but Tatsuro countered them with anti-magic and non-fire magic, while the others attacked physically without worrying about fire, rebuilding their defensive line.

"So Leah, won't you explain this soon?" (Tatsuro)

"Yes. Actually, the object that was generating those monsters has a core body, and unless that core is destroyed, they will keep reviving." (Leah)

"And they'll be reinforced too?" (Tatsuro)

"Yes. That object absorbs the last attack used to destroy it and gains resistance to that attack. It also has the power to reflect that resistance onto the monsters it generates. So every time we destroyed it, the monsters would only become stronger, and our options would be reduced." (Leah)

"So to completely destroy it, we just need to destroy that core or whatever?" (Tatsuro)

"Yes. After that, if we destroy the hexahedron from earlier, we should be able to stop these monsters from multiplying." (Leah)

"The core, huh. But using my [Spirit Eyes], I couldn't find anything like that." (Tatsuro)

Since finding the hexahedron, Tatsuro had been carefully checking for anything else.

Still, if he couldn't find it, which meant he must be overlooking something. That's how Tatsuro concluded.

"However, my dispel magic is becoming less useful than before... How are other parties conquering something like this?" (Tatsuro)

"Maybe everyone has skills like Leah's?" (Ai)

"It's more like accumulated trial and error." (Leah)

"That's it? Don't parties share information?" (Tatsuro)

"I read in a book that once you reach this level of dungeons, parties tend to keep information within their own group." (Leah)

"Keeping it secret from others?" (Ai)

"Yes." (Leah)

While the country encourages information exchange within dungeons to secure better resources, this tendency becomes weaker in higher-risk dungeons.

However, the country cannot forcibly mandate this to prevent skilled adventurers from flowing to other nations.

So why do adventurers try to keep information to themselves? It's for money.

If they reduce the number of people coming to hunting grounds and monopolize the area, they can exclusively obtain materials that can only be found there and sell them at a corresponding value.

So adventurers share and inherit dungeon information only within their party, and after repeatedly entering and leaving for years, they finally reach the end.

People like Tatsuro's group, who try to conquer it on their first attempt, are practically non-existent.

"So those guys at the entrance were like that too?" (Tatsuro)

"Probably people who have been active in this dungeon for many years." (Leah)

"I see. Well, now that we've cleared things up, let's search for that core." (Tatsuro)

"How will we search?" (Leah)

"As I said earlier, we can only rely on detection magic. [Spirit Eye] might miss things, but this way we can search without gaps." (Tatsuro)

"I'll leave that to you, Tatsuro. We'll guard here, so concentrate." (Ai)

"Thanks, Ai. Cardina and I will focus on anti-magic and detection, so hold this area." (Tatsuro)

"Okay!" (Ai)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"Understood!" (Nana)

"Yes!" (Leah)

"Roger!" (Athena)

Thus, Tatsuro and Cardina focused solely on dispel magic, meticulously scanning the entire area.

"Doesn't seem to be anything around here. Cardina, let's search each cave one by one." (Tatsuro) (Tatsuro)

"Pewee?" (Cardina)

Tatsuro and Cardina cast detection magic into the caves around them, starting from the closest ones.

But in all thirty-two locations, they found nothing.

"Then underground." (Tatsuro)

"Pewee?" (Cardina)

This time they used a mix of earth and dispel magic to investigate underground, but they reached a dead end within ten meters and found nothing.

(It must be somewhere... But where else could it be... - Oh.) (Tatsuro)

While pondering, Tatsuro looked up, and his eyes met the endless sky.

"Come to think of it, how far does this go up?" (Tatsuro)

"Pewee?" (Cardina)

"Let's investigate the sky this time." (Tatsuro)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

Tatsuro and Cardina extended their detection magic upwards into the seemingly empty sky.

As they continued extending their search higher and higher, they eventually confirmed a monster carrying something.

"Found it! That's probably what it's holding!" (Tatsuro)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

"Where is it?" (Ai)

"Left at a 70-degree angle - no, it's starting to move. Did it realize we detected it? Ai, I'll send an image through mental transmission. Can you shoot it down with your bow?" (Tatsuro)

"Got it. I'll try!" (Ai)

Tatsuro, Cardina, and Ai left the defensive line, increasing the burden on other members, but the monsters were still manageable.

Jeanne and the others, seeing the end in sight, gradually released their remaining strength.

Meanwhile, Ai aimed her bow, precisely receiving the image of the monster flying around in the sky from Tatsuro.

"It's quite high up. At this rate, I might not reach it. Myoo." (Ai)

When Ai called out to Gundari Myoo, he understood her intention and held out eight palms towards Ai's readied arrow, combining the magical power used for releasing a spear.

A massive, nearly solid bow arrow was created.

Ai tracked the monster's trajectory, adjusting her bow and drawing the string to its limit.

"...Now!" (Ai)

"Whoa!" (Tatsuro)

The arrow flew straight into the sky with such power that Tatsuro nearby felt the impact.

The monster in the sky was a fly-shaped insect about three centimeters long, with a small, spiky spherical object like a rock candy clutched in its legs.

Its only role was to bring this sphere into the sky and escape from the adventurers.

But that was about to end.

As the massive arrow approached from below, the monster was already destroyed along with the sphere before it could even realize what happened.

The monster disappeared from this world without even noticing its own death.

"Yes!" (Tatsuro)

"Hit!" (Ai)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

Tatsuro and Cardina confirmed it with detection magic, while Ai confirmed it through mental transmission, and they high-fived in joy.

Now, they just needed to return to the cave and destroy it.

"I think we've destroyed the core. Now we just need to scatter these monsters and return to where we were before." (Tatsuro)

"Father. I'd like to try defeating them with poison magic." (Nana)

"Poison magic? Okay, but first apply a detox magic to us in advance." (Tatsuro)

"Of course!" (Nana)

Nana applied detox magic to everyone with immediate death effects, got a boost from Tatsuro's light magic, and with Jeanne's wind spreading it wider, she scattered poison everywhere.

The monsters began falling one after another, creating a scene of corpses.

Since the enemies were dying, Tatsuro could store them in his [Infinite Item Field], clearing a path and collecting all the monsters before returning to the hexahedron's location.

"Let's destroy it." (Tatsuro)

"Yes. It should be fine now." (Leah)

Confirming with Leah, whose sky-blue eyes had been watching, that the core was indeed destroyed, Tatsuro used his left hand to store the poison-killed monsters in the [Infinite Item Field] while using his other hand to launch an earth magic-created earth mass, blown by wind magic from his staff's tip.

When it hit, the hexahedron shattered, and the monster generation stopped.

"Phew. That's settled. Those bugs were gross." (Athena)

"Athena doesn't like insects either?" (Nana)

"Yeah. With animals, it's easy to tell when they're angry or scared, but with insects, I can't tell what they're thinking, so they're creepy." (Athena)

"True. Since they have no expressions, they're hard to read." (Leah)

"Right. Even if they're intimidating, they still look expressionless." (Tatsuro)

While chatting, they exited the cave and found a glowing pool that had appeared near where they originally stood, leading to the next layer.

Moreover, dozens of monsters in the cave's depths that the poison hadn't reached were still squirming.

"Since we're here, let's get some SP from them." (Tatsuro)

"Yeah, let's do that." (Ai)

The centipede-type monsters had gained fire magic resistance and even learned to breathe fire, but what was terrifying was their overwhelming numbers.

When just a few were wandering around, it seemed nothing serious. But as they were about to descend, the monsters suddenly began cannibalism.

"Ugh, they've started eating each other. Gross." (Tatsuro)

"I get that, but why suddenly? There was no indication of this before." (Ai)

Even as they spoke, the cannibalism continued.

"Huh? Aren't they getting bigger? (Tatsuro)

"Indeed they are." (Ai)

Eventually, the survivor of the cannibalism had grown to about three meters.

Its outer shell became harder, gaining a slippery, glossy sheen, and its sickle-like mandibles clicked menacingly.

Looking around for prey, it turned its head and noticed Tatsuro's group.

"Looks like it spotted us. Magical power is gathering at its mouth - a flame breath is coming!" (Tatsuro)

"Pewee" (Cardina)

Since it wasn't necessarily the same flame breath as before, they carefully analyzed it before deploying an anti-magic barrier.

They successfully blocked the flame breath, but the output had clearly increased.

"Looks like it's gotten stronger, just like its appearance. Exactly as expected. But that means we can get plenty of SP." (Tatsuro)

"Then, let's capture it─────!" (Ai)

Ai shot her magical bow arrow at the tip of its tail.

"Whoa." (Ai)

"Seems it's become quite tough." (Tatsuro)

Although the arrow hit, it was deflected by the outer shell and flew off in another direction.

"Then, I'll increase the output!" (Ai)

This time, using four of Gundari Myoo's hands, she created a larger arrow and shot it at the same spot.

This time, it penetrated the outer shell, pinning it to the ground.

"Jiiiiiiiii"

While making a sound like an electric shaver and twisting to remove the magical arrow stuck at its tail tip, Ai fired a second shot, piercing from its chest to its tail, pinning it down.

"Tatsuro." (Ai)

"Ah." (Tatsuro)

Before the arrow disappeared, Tatsuro used [Adhesive Water] magic to keep it fixed to the ground.

Then Tatsuro and his companions began to approach quickly to apply [Level Eater].