kscans

Chapter 116 - The Remnants of Civilization

Episode 85: The Remnants of Civilization

After several battles, we pressed on through the bronze forest. We had already finished marking the way to the exit guarded by the Self-Defense Force.

Through the gaps in the trees, a 'structure' came into view. Within this forest—a place that couldn't exist in the known natural world—stood an artificial object that was strikingly different from the gate the SDF had constructed. It radiated an alien presence.

No. Calling it a structure wasn't quite right. It was more accurate to call it a 'ruin.'

A clearing opened up in the bronze forest. In this wide, open space, scattered stone walls remained. Only the foundations were partially intact, with a few brick walls barely standing on top of them.

Shattered as if from a fierce battle, it was now impossible to tell what kind of facility this remnant of intelligent life had once been.

As for the rest of it, whether it had sunk or met some other fate was unclear.

All that was certain was the vague fact that someone had been doing something here.

This wasn't damage from the SDF's fight with the monstrous birds. I’d heard it was like this from the moment they first set foot here.

"Aira-san. We've arrived at the location you mentioned."

"Good. Well done. Mia, could you take Ukon-kun and make a lap around the perimeter? Erina-kun, please get your hand mirror ready and walk along the inside."

"Understood, Nee-san."

"Okay!"

"Then I'll keep watch on our surroundings."

The other reason we chose this dungeon was to assist with her research.

Miyoshi Mia, with her Golems in tow, began to walk the outer perimeter of the ruins, while Rinzaki Erina stepped inside.

Watching them out of the corner of my eye, I hoisted my sword onto my shoulder and slowly scanned the area.

Still, these ruins were a strange sight.

The SDF had built a structure near this dungeon's exit that looked exactly like a police box, and it sat on a kind of 'float' that resembled several rubber boats tied together.

According to the Dungeon Store's info, they'd used magic to reduce its weight and placed it on top of a boat... or so I heard.

But the remnants of the building here were all standing perfectly upright. Had they driven foundations into this unstable ground, or had the ground turned muddy after the fact?

Looking at the barely visible foundations, I could feel a faint trace of mana. Some kind of magical formula was likely carved into them, but the mud made it impossible to see, and I doubted I could understand it anyway.

It was something I'd thought for a while now, but if there was a civilization that created dungeons, or lived in them... they must have been masters of magical technology.

They had managed to construct a building the size of a mansion or castle, judging by the ruins, on ground that I couldn't even tell was mud or a bottomless swamp. Despite the medieval fantasy interior of the dungeon, their level of civilization seemed incredibly advanced.

It was no wonder Aira-san was so interested. There were no predecessors. This was an unexplored field of research that even the most renowned professors from every country were still scratching their heads over, unable to grasp even a fraction of the mystery.

Well, honestly, it had nothing to do with me.

Research and theorizing weren't my strong suits. I'm the kind of person who's content just hearing the answer and thinking, 'Oh, is that so?'

I was able to entertain such thoughts for about three minutes after they began their investigation.

My [Spirit Eye] caught a glimpse of a shadow approaching through the trees.

"Enemy attack! Opposite direction of the pseudo-sun!"

I shouted as I raised my sword, lowering my center of gravity and gripping the hilt with both hands.

The two of them were a bit far off, and I was the closest to the enemy. They were heading my way, but I would be within the Stymphalides' range first.

Just as I plunged the tip of my sword into the mud, a volley of feathers shot toward me. As the four monstrous birds charged, firing like machine guns, I swung my sword in a reverse diagonal slash.

The wind-infused strike violently blasted the mud forward.

Like a landmine had detonated, a brown wall soared into the air, momentarily blocking my entire view. Its momentum swallowed the incoming feathers whole.

And if I couldn't see them, it meant they couldn't see me either. I had vanished from the Stymphalides' sight.

But I could still see mana.

With my sword still held ready on my shoulder, I charged. I burst through the wall of mud just as it began to fall back to earth and closed the distance in an instant on the monsters, who had lowered their altitude to make for an easier target.

Given our combined speeds, I was already within striking distance.

"Gaaaah!?"

I cut down the lead creature with a diagonal slash, then smashed the head of the second one coming up behind it with a 'Windmill Strike.'

Twisting at my waist, I leaped, severing the wing of the third bird as it frantically tried to ascend, sending it crashing down.

I reached for a knife with my left hand to throw at the fourth one that passed outside my sword's range, but a grappling hook shot up from below and wrapped around the bird's neck before an ice spear pierced through it.

Keeping that in my vision, I threw a knife to finish off the one with the severed wings. Once all the Stymphalides were in view, all four began to turn to salt.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, a voice came from my earring.

"Are you alright, Kyo-chan-kun? I can see you're unharmed through Ukon-kun's mirror, but try not to get too covered in mud. I hear they give you an earful if you try to leave the dungeon with dirt or plants on you."

"I'm fine. I blew it away with the wind."

Dungeon components are, in some places, repaired with 'salt.'

It's unclear what state it uses as a 'baseline,' but the dungeon repairs broken walls and such with salt. It does so with such accuracy that you can't tell the difference in appearance or even composition if you analyze it on the spot.

Because of this, moving things around inside the dungeon doesn't seem to count as 'carrying monster salt.' In fact, when I used it for [Byakuren]'s makeshift body back when I was just starting as an adventurer, I wasn't swarmed by monsters.

However, it's a different story if you take a salt-repaired part outside. What was a different substance inside slowly begins to revert to salt once it's outside, and the moment it completely reverts, a stampede may or may not occur.

To prevent that, the SDF has apparently made a depression in the floor at the exit and filled it with disinfectant. When you leave, you have to slosh your feet around in it.

...Of course, there's a rumor that's just a pretext to catch idiots trying to sneak out while invisible. There's even a boom gate like at a railroad crossing to make it hard to jump over.

In any case, I didn't want to get covered in mud either, so blowing it away with wind solved the problem.

"I think this every time, but to be able to use that skill like that... your mana capacity—or rather, your mana recovery rate—is just abnormal."

"It's just how my unique skill works."

As we were having this casual exchange, I scanned my surroundings just in case, and—

"Hk!"

"More enemies coming! Four o'clock from your position, Kyo-chan!"

I noticed the approaching flock of monstrous birds at almost the same instant Erina-san shouted her warning.

I immediately turned to face them, lowering my sword into a ready stance.

"Sixteen of them! That's a lot!"

"So they were all gathered together!"

"I'm gonna smash your head in, you残念女子大生."

I replied to Aira-san's pointless comment as I plunged the tip of my sword into the mud.

For a brief moment, my eyes met with Mia-san's, who was diagonally behind me.

Almost simultaneously, a chaotic volley of feathers was unleashed from between the bronze trees. They were still too far to pierce my armor, so was this just a feint?

No. They must have judged that this was enough to kill the other two. Their instincts were surprisingly sharp.

Naturally, I defended in the same way as before. The mud that flew up like an explosion swallowed the incoming feathers whole.

"Devour them."

As if in response, Mia-san murmured.

It was just a simple phrase, not even an incantation. Yet the mud, like a pack of obedient hounds, lunged at the flock of approaching Stymphalides.

The mud changed shape, forming the heads of ferocious dogs. They flew through the air, baring their fangs at the birds' throats, wings, and bodies.

But it was no use. Though their fangs were sharp enough to pierce a car hood, they couldn't penetrate the feathers of a Stymphalis. According to the SDF, those feathers could deflect a 9mm bullet.

But their movements had slowed.

—KAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKA!!

A series of strangely hard sounds echoed from behind me. The ambient temperature had plummeted, and my breath turned white.

"Fire."

At the curt command, ice spears shot past me, flying over my head and to my sides.

Against the sixteen monstrous birds, more than fifty spears of cold malice were unleashed.

The Stymphalides, whose speed had been blunted by the biting mud dogs the moment they cleared the trees, had no way to dodge. All they could do was pray that an ally in front of them would be lucky enough to serve as a shield.

Only three were fortunate. But their luck had run out.

A bo-shuriken took one down, and I charged in to cut down the remaining two.

It was, without a doubt, an overwhelming victory. I remained vigilant just in case, but all sixteen birds had turned to salt.

However, there was a problem.

"...They sank."

The drop items from the first four I'd killed—bronze plates—had completely disappeared. In this dungeon, if you left them alone, they would sink several meters into the mud.

This terrain allowed humans, even non-Awakened, to move their feet and escape before sinking, but a simple mana-infused plate obviously didn't have limbs.

This meant I needed to collect these sixteen plates quickly, too. I started to move toward them, but...

"Rise."

The moment Mia-san said that and placed her staff into the mud, the drop items that should have sunk floated to the surface.

The salt was neatly pushed aside, leaving only the bronze plates bobbing gently on the mud.

I found myself staring at the scene with my mouth agape. Mia-san puffed out her chest. Tayun, her breasts—no, her magnificent breasts—bounced. And her face was beautiful. Wait, did her magnificent breasts get even bigger?

Could she be... a goddess?

"It's a simple application of 'Water and Ice Magic.' Since there are so many, I can only make them float, though."

"May I worship you?"

"Kyo-chan. Let's not let go of our swords, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I'll take my guard duty seriously.

From the bottom of my heart, I was truly glad Mia-san had joined our party.