Level Eater
Chapter 195

After successfully defeating a vicious monster that produced an unpleasant appearance and foul odor, Athena checked the [Scythe Arts] on the system by opening the announcement she had heard earlier.

When she looked at her status, [Scythe Arts] was clearly engraved, with her class being a Scythe Practitioner, and her stats were leaning towards physical abilities. (T/N: this class name is subject to change if I get a better word that provides more understanding of the class)

When she told Tatsuro about this, he asked about her own feelings.

"Hmm. To be honest, I kind of thought the spear might have been better. But well, this weapon seems convenient when used, so I guess it's fine~"(Athena)

"I see. Since Athena herself originally sought a spear, I was wondering which would be better. If you're okay with it, then it's fine." (Tatsuro)

"That's right~. From now on, I'll do my best with magic and a scythe~" (Athena)

And so, Athena's battle-style direction was set.

Since she seemed to have no lingering attachment to the spear, Tatsuro and the others didn't say anything more and continued advancing through the dungeon.

Had they been walking for about half a day?

As they efficiently hunted the monsters they encountered along the way, they continued walking along a road that stretched endlessly straight until finally a different landscape came into view.

"What's that? It suddenly gets wide..." (Tatsuro)

"Is that saying we should rest there?" (Ai)

At the end of their joking conversation, there was a massive box-shaped space that could have fit an entire Tokyo Dome.

However, the walls were still the same water walls experiencing deep-sea level water pressure.

While Ai joked that it might just be an empty space, they couldn't definitively say that was the case. In any case, it was a suspicious space.

So Tatsuro carefully investigated the space with Cardina.

However, finding nothing, they further confirmed safety using [Spirit Eye] and [All-Seeing Eye], concluding that there were no traps or monsters hidden.

But that only made it seem more eerie to everyone.

"Well, this was the only path, and we can't clear this layer without going through. Everyone, proceed with maximum caution." (Tatsuro)

"That's all we can do. Shall we use our usual formation?" (Ai)

"Yeah. Jeanne in front, Ai in the middle, me, Nana, Leah adaptable to the situation. Cardina above, with Athena following." (Tatsuro)

Everyone formed the formation accordingly. Jeanne activated her skills to maximize defense, and the others prepared to attack, defend, or escape at a moment's notice.

"Having Jeanne in front really provides an unparalleled sense of security." (Ai)

"Yeah, I feel super protected. Thanks always." (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

With her physique and having acquired both physical and magical defense skills, Jeanne was now undoubtedly recognized as the strongest shield in this party.

Moreover, this shield had ferocious horns that could knock down and kill opposing enemies.

Such a reliable existence would be hard to come by.

While thinking such things and thanking Jeanne, they cautiously advanced, and Jeanne took a step into the open space.

"There's nothing here, right?" (Tatsuro)

"Peewee!" (Cardina)

"That should be the case." (Leah)

Tatsuro, Cardina, and Leah stopped once more to confirm, but nothing suspicious occurred.

So they proceeded further inward.

"At times like these, something usually happens around the middle." (Athena)

"Don't say that, or you'll raise a flag." (Nana)

"A flag?" (Leah)

As Leah tilted her head, not understanding the meaning of "flag", and everyone entered the central area as Nana mentioned, suddenly the paths in front and behind were blocked by water walls, trapping them in this space.

"We're trapped." (Ai)

"That might not be all." (Tatsuro)

As if surrounding Tatsuro and his group, one new type of monster appeared from each of the four water walls.

From the wall they were originally facing, there was one monster about four meters tall—a crumpled black paper-like creature with multiple hard, pointed tentacles growing like chestnut thorns.

From the wall behind them, six mummy-like fish-human hybrid monsters.

From the left wall, a one-eyed giant snake about five meters long with two heads forked in two.

Finally, from the right wall, a ten-meter-tall giant-type monster with blue skin, a flabby body, an ugly, rotting face, and sharp fangs and claws.

Each dripping with water, they glared at Tatsuro's group, somehow restraining each other and watching their movements.

"Oh boy... These huge reactions weren't here just moments ago..." (Tatsuro)

"Peeweee!" (Cardina)

"Cardina's sister says she can only describe it as suddenly occurring." (Nana)

"Let's think about this later. What do we do first?" (Tatsuro)

The first decision would be either to spread out their forces or stay grouped and defeat them.

"They don't seem friendly with each other." (Ai)

"Right. In that case, we might not want to be divided. Maybe we should stay together and take down the spiky guy who seems most troublesome first." (Tatsuro)

"Wait. Those fish-humans have a [Resonance Attenuation Field] skill that weakens our attacks. We might have trouble attacking later if we don't take them out first." (Ai)

"The [Attenuation Field] was something the Golden Imomu had before, and if it's more powerful, it could be troublesome. Everyone, let's take them out first at full power." (Tatsuro)

"Ousa!" (Ai)

"Peewee!" (Cardina)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"Understood!" (Nana)

"Yes!" (Leah)

"Roger!" (Athena)

With each of their battle cries, they charged toward the mummy-like fish-humans, leaving the monsters that were still restraining each other.

Noticing this, three of the fish-humans began a mysterious undulating dance, while the other three raised their spears and moved forward.

This seemed to be the signal for battle, as the other three types of monsters also began to move.

"Ai and I will keep the others in check. Take out the fish guys in the meantime." (Tatsuro)

"May I also join the containment?" (Leah)

Leah, who had somehow drawn lines of reddish-brown flame on the floor, asked this.

They figured Cardina and the others would be fine, and Leah's power was suitable for restraint.

"Then go ahead. Ai, use ranged weapons to prevent them from closing in. I'll shoot lasers!" (Tatsuro)

"Got it!" (Leah)

"Yes!" (Ai)

Tatsuro created ten red light spheres about fifty centimeters in size and floated them in the air, firing lasers to stop the others' feet.

Ai activated Gundari Myoo, and equipped her jewelled sword and whip, using slightly weaker Ki slashes and mid-range whip attacks to contain them, while holding a bow and increasing its output to shoot.

Leah communicated her image to the lines of reddish-brown flame, causing spikes to rise when the giant stepped on them, making it trip.

While Tatsuro's group was struggling, Jeanne transformed and charged into the fish-humans.

Cardina and the others, also transformed, followed, by Tatsuro's group coming from behind.

"Gyo-gyoh!"

"Gyooo!"

Releasing high-pitched voices that would have made Tatsuro want to make a "fish-kun" joke, they threw spears at the leading Jeanne.

However, these were easily deflected by Jeanne's [Super Hardened Skin] and flew off in a completely different direction.

Preparing a second shot, they reached into their mouths to retrieve a new spear, this time aiming at Nana, who seemed the softest.

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"Gyo-gyooo!?"

But Jeanne extended her left arm to block the line of fire, then leaped in front of the two fish-humans.

Raising her right arm, she scooped up three of them and skewered them with her massive claws, then threw the corpses at the two-headed snake.

Meanwhile, Cardina and the others were approaching the fish-humans exercising the [Resonance Attenuation Field] skill.

While Jeanne pushed through with her massive body, Cardina and the others felt somewhat heavy, possibly due to their magical biological nature.

But disregarding that, Cardina used her wings and legs to dive from the sky like a falling leaf, cutting vertically with [Dragon Wing Blade].

Nana enhanced herself with curse magic, skillfully dodging the fish-humans' dancing and spear attacks with steps, then circling behind to bite both temples with [Bite], finishing them off.

Finally, Athena wrapped them with her [Dragon Armor] tail, squeezing tight, and then decapitated them with her large scythe.

Thus, the [Resonance Attenuation Field] completely disappeared, and Cardina's group's fatigue vanished.

By then, Tatsuro, Ai, and Leah had safely caught up with Cardina's group.

"So next is that spiky guy." (Ai)

"That's fine, but it seems the monsters are starting to fight each other. If we play this right, we might benefit." (Tatsuro)

"Ah, the giant crushed one of the snake's heads!" (Ai)

"In return, the snake is biting the giant with its other head, but it doesn't seem to be effective." (Tatsuro)

"No, it seems to be injecting poison." (Ai)

As they watched the monsters engage in a battle reminiscent of a special effects monster war, they observed the situation carefully. The giant's flesh around its feet—where the snake had bitten—began to crumble and eventually fell off.

"That poison is dangerous. Cardina, did you analyze it?" (Tatsuro)

"Peewee!" (Cardina)

Nodding as if it was obvious, Cardina began explaining the poison's nature to Nana.

"Then I can neutralize it with my detoxification magic. I'll apply it to everyone just in case." (Tatsuro)

While they had no intention of getting bitten, it was best to take precautions.

During this time, the monster Ai called "Spiky Guy" extended its thorn-like tentacles to attack the two injured monsters, clearly aiming to take advantage of their weakness.

But the giant reached out without hesitation, grabbing and tearing it as if swatting a fly, then throwing it towards Tatsuro's group.

"—Wha-. Ai!" (Tatsuro)

"I know!" (Ai)

Since Tatsuro's group was near the wall where the fish-humans were, they couldn't retreat further. So Ai deployed a Ki shield.

At the moment of impact, Ai used the shield's derivative skill [Parry] to skillfully change its trajectory, dropping it a bit away.

It fell to the ground with a disgusting splat, and though they thought it might be dead, the "Spiky Guy" returned to its original spherical form as if nothing had happened.

This time it extended its hard, pointed tentacles towards Tatsuro's group.

"Athena!" (Tatsuro)

"Got it!" (Athena)

As if communicating telepathically, Tatsuro fired a massive white lightning bolt mixed with light and thunder magic at Athena, which would travel along the tentacles.

The lightning bolt spread across the multiple tentacles, electrocuting the main body.

"─────"

"Quite effective." (Athena)

"Yeah. When analyzing with Cardina, we found those tentacles were made of a high electrical conductivity metal material. Not just stopping its movement, but completely charring it." (Tatsuro)

Looking at the monster, it was smoking, its insides burned by the merciless lightning magic, spreading a charred smell around.

"The remaining two have noticed the smell!" (Ai)

"The snake is coming first." (Tatsuro)

With one leg missing, the giant moved sluggishly. In contrast, the giant snake, which had only lost one of its two heads and retained its mobility, was approaching at full speed.

Before reaching them, it bent its body backward, facing upward, and began releasing poison liquid.

"Ugh, Jeanne!" (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

This time, Tatsuro used wind magic along with Jeanne to blow the poison liquid back in the opposite direction.

Then, Cardina and Athena shot a combined magic of magical bullets and lightning, piercing the snake's head.

"Did we get it?" (Tatsuro)

"Tatsuro. That's another flag..." (Ai)

"Ah..." (Tatsuro)

Despite having its remaining head blown away, the snake, now worm-like, rose up and resumed its march as if nothing had happened.