kscans

Chapter 213 - The Final Treasure

As expected, or perhaps as a foregone conclusion, in a place filled with dinosaurs, the only monster that could be the final boss appeared.

A Tyrannosaurus. About thirteen meters long, the strongest carnivorous dinosaur. It was famous enough that even those who weren't dinosaur enthusiasts would have heard its name. There were theories that its body was covered in downy feathers, but the men in Hayato's group preferred the old-school type.

And the one before them now was the old-school type. A type closer to a reptile.

But this was, at its core, a fantasy dinosaur. It was more like a dragon than a dinosaur. It spat giant fireballs, generated electricity from its body, and when it swung its tail, ice pillars would inexplicably attack them.

Diite was nodding in satisfaction, but the men in Hayato's group were a little disappointed.

Hayato planned to ask Diite to make things more normal later, but that was a separate issue. For now, they had to fight this Tyrannosaurus. The women, who seemed less interested, had already begun their attack, as if to say the first strike wins.

Fortunately, this floor was spacious. Hayato, Relic, and Sonia stayed out of the Tyrannosaurus's attack range and watched the battle.

"How amusing, playing the final boss in the Demon Lord's stead. I'll teach you what a real final boss is."

Lunaria, the most reliable member in terms of combat, was fighting the Tyrannosaurus. Her Arondight's weapon skill, Black Swan, had already been activated, and she was dealing significant damage.

However, the Tyrannosaurus seemed to have a considerable natural HP regeneration rate, as it was recovering before their very eyes. The battle looked like it would drag on.

That said, Ney, Rosalie, and Cecil had also joined the fight, and the other members, including Esha, were dealing damage with ranged attacks like bows and magic. It would take time, but they weren't going to lose.

"Hayato-sama, will Esha not be firing Destroy?"

"She might be conserving her Melon Juice since she's low on it. I didn't ask her to, but perhaps her plan is to finish it off all at once at the very end."

Previously, when they were salvaging at sea, Esha had fired Destroy the moment Poseidon's head appeared. Right after that, they were hit by a wide-range magic attack.

That was an action the boss always performed when its HP dropped to a certain point, an attack that should have come much later. Hayato figured she was avoiding that by not firing Destroy, a common mechanic in simple AI.

Meanwhile, Diite was telling Esha, "Not yet?" "Isn't it about time?" "I think now is the time," likely because she wanted the Tyrannosaurus to use its next attack sooner.

Esha, seemingly aware of this, was casually brushing Diite off with, "Not yet," "Just a little more," and "Stay."

There was a bit of an unnecessary back-and-forth, but with this group, they could afford that much leeway without any problems.

Then, when the Tyrannosaurus's HP dropped below half, its behavior changed. It began to charge repeatedly.

As far as attacks went, this was one of the lower-damage types, so in a way, it had gotten weaker. A simple charge was easy to dodge.

(What's this? Such a simple attack... ah.)

Hayato realized.

Even when they dodged the Tyrannosaurus's charge, it would hit the building's wall. The wall was made of metal, but cracks were appearing. Water was leaking from them. And before he knew it, they were submerged up to their ankles.

Then, the Tyrannosaurus went into the motion for releasing its body's electricity.

"Get out of the water! You'll be electrocuted!"

As Hayato shouted, the surrounding members realized the situation and scrambled to get out of the water. The floor was flooded, but there were some raised areas that were not submerged. A few members, however, were too slow.

Immediately after, electricity was discharged from the Tyrannosaurus's body, and a current flowed through the water.

The members who were too slow to escape took damage, and several of them were defeated.

(Whoa, if your HP is at the lowest rank, it's a one-shot.)

The ones who fell were mainly members of the Treasure Hunter Guild, along with the magic-specialist types from the Black Rose. Their low HP meant they couldn't withstand it. That meant if Hayato had been hit, he would have died instantly.

The Tyrannosaurus also seemed to be taking damage for some reason, but thanks to its natural recovery, it looked like it would heal soon.

The Tyrannosaurus wasn't laughing, but it somehow looked that way. Everyone present was a little irritated.

And the Tyrannosaurus had made a mistake in its kill order. The first one it should have taken down was Lunaria.

The defeated members of the Black Rose turned into black particles and gathered into the sword Lunaria held, Arondight. The sword was enveloped in a black aura, and the gem on its hilt began to glow.

Lunaria put on a helmet that covered her eyes. From within, her eyes shone red.

"Atone with your death."

Despite the water at her feet making it difficult to move, Lunaria closed in on the Tyrannosaurus at super high speed. She was so fast that water splashed up in her wake.

Then, Lunaria slashed the Tyrannosaurus with Arondight. The giant's body was sent flying like a piece of paper before it rolled across the floor.

While everyone stared in a daze, Rosalie raised her beloved scythe.

"Follow Lunaria-sama!"

As Rosalie shouted, the surviving members of the Black Rose began to use every attack at their disposal.

"Let's go, you guys! Don't let Lunaria and her crew take all the glory!"

"Uooooh! I'm fired up!"

Following them, Cecil and Ney also raised their voices. Everyone resumed their attack on the Tyrannosaurus with renewed vigor.

"Now then, shall I take the best part?"

Esha was suddenly standing near Hayato, holding her Beelzebub and looking through its scope.

(Whether it's food or a fight, she always takes the best part.)

Esha took aim and fired Destroy.

The laser-like attack parted the water on the floor with its pressure wave as it sped towards the Tyrannosaurus.

The Tyrannosaurus was sent flying like a piece of paper again, crashing into the wall.

Afterward, it tried to get back up, but its hind legs were trembling, and it couldn't stand, collapsing forward.

The members who confirmed this let out a cheer.

Hayato, Relic, and the others were also celebrating, but Esha muttered something.

"It seems the flooding isn't stopping. Shouldn't we hurry and retrieve the contents of the containers?"

"Huh...?"

Indeed, the water level in the room was rising. What was ankle-deep had now come up to their knees.

Hayato looked at Diite.

Diite had been resurrecting the fallen members, but when she noticed Hayato's gaze, she gave him a beaming smile.

This was probably the final gimmick. Even if there was time left to escape, there wasn't much time left in this room. They had to retrieve the treasure from the containers under these conditions.

Everyone split up to search for containers and found several. They could take some of them as they were, but it seemed the built-in containers couldn't be removed.

"Is this made of Hihiirokane?"

At Relic's murmur, everyone except Diite was surprised.

The rumored treasure chest, in this case a container, was right here.

"Relic, I'm counting on you for that one. I'll open the other containers, so just focus on it."

Relic nodded to Sonia, pulled on both his gloves once, and flexed his hands to get them comfortable. Then he began picking the lock and disarming the trap.

The difficulty of picking a lock and disarming a trap on a treasure chest changes depending on the quality of the chest. Hihiirokane was said to be superior to Adamantite, so the difficulty would be at its peak.

Even with Lockpicking and Trap Disarm skills at one hundred, the time to solve the subsequent puzzle would be considerably short. It was only Hayato's guess, but he thought that since Relic had never picked a lock or disarmed a trap on a Hihiirokane chest before, it would be extremely difficult this time.

And even now, the water was gradually rising, putting them under mental pressure. There was a possibility that even Relic couldn't open it.

Despite Hayato's worries, Relic was attempting to pick the lock and disarm the trap with a serious expression. His concentration was so intense it was suffocating just to watch.

Relic was on one knee, and the container itself had already sunk underwater. Still, Relic hadn't given up, or rather, he seemed too focused to even notice.

Sonia was already finished, and the one Relic was working on would be the last treasure.

"H-hey, Hayato, isn't this impossible? Besides, the time limit is getting dicey. If we don't get out, we'll lose the items, right?"

Ney's voice was tinged with worry. Hayato agreed and was about to call out to Relic, but he was stopped by Sonia, Esha, and Cecil.

"Once Relic gets like this, he won't stop, so it's useless to say anything."

"Sonia-san is right. At this point, he won't stop even if he's defeated."

"Yeah, yeah, it's a waste of breath."

If his old partner and former clanmates said so, it must be true. Besides, Relic wasn't reacting to them at all.

"Then, I'll stay behind. Everyone else, just take the items and get out."

"What are you trying to do, play the hero? In any case, it's meaningless for you to stay, Master, so let's leave Relic behind and all get out."

"Don't say it's meaningless."

"Then you'll just be a burden when Relic tries to escape, so please don't stay."

"This is strange, the first thing you said was better..."

"I'll buy the sentiment, though. Now, let's go. Relic, I'll laugh at you if you can't bring back the treasure with this. Hurry up, grab the treasure, and follow us."

It was unclear if he heard her, but Esha said this to Relic, and then everyone left the room.

Outside the room, water had already seeped in. However, it was only enough to wet the floor slightly, so they still had plenty of time.

Hayato's group headed for the rooftop. The flooding seemed to be limited to the fifth floor, as the upper floors were fine.

"I wonder if Relic-san will be okay."

Hayato murmured as he looked back at the stairs they had climbed.

"No point in worrying. He'll follow us soon enough, so don't worry."

"Sonia-san, you really trust Relic-san, don't you?"

"Don't say such embarrassing things. Besides, even if he's defeated, he'll just resurrect at the base. And Relic has never betrayed my expectations before. Well, that time he betrayed you all was a disappointment. But that was the only time."

Sonia said this with a grin, gave Hayato a light pat on the back, and headed towards the stairs.

Just as Hayato was about to follow, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs from behind.

"Oh, Hayato-sama, were you still here?"

"Relic-san! Thank goodness, you're safe."

"Yes. And I've secured the final treasure as well. I had to bring it back, or Esha would have laughed at me, so I pushed myself despite my age. Now, let's head for the exit immediately. If we're defeated here, it'll be more than just a laughing matter."

Hayato nodded, and together with Relic, he headed for the exit on the rooftop.