kscans

Chapter 18 - Chapter 18

Spring Dungeon, final floor.

The Alumist, small, humanoid water spirits that floated about, shot water bullets at me.

I tried to evade them and approach for an attack.

"Whoa! That was close!!"

If I had taken one more step, I would have taken damage from the water bullet shot from the side.

So they do coordinate their attacks.

The Alumist are rare among common spirit-type monsters in that multiple of them will launch coordinated attacks. At first, only one had appeared before me, but I was glad I had stayed on my guard.

"Ten of them, huh. I'm in a hurry today, so I'll just force my way through."

For a solo player like me, monsters that coordinate their attacks in groups are quite troublesome enemies. Normally, I would retreat and choose a different route, but I couldn't afford to do that today.

"Activate Magic Scroll!"

A Multi-Sword User can also use magic to attack from a distance depending on the weapons they have. However, if you want to hit a wide area with high firepower, a dedicated magic user is still stronger. A scroll is an item that has the skill of such a magic user sealed into it.

"Firestorm!!"

Flames swirled around me and spread outwards.

This was a fire attribute magic skill that became usable when Grade 3 dungeons were released, and it was currently the strongest area-of-effect magic available.

It would be nice if this took care of them.

The wall of fire vanished.

"Crap, so it didn't work."

All ten Alumist were still intact. It seemed they had defended against my magic by deploying a film of water around themselves.

That Firestorm scroll cost me a million yen...

Oh well.

Just in case it didn't work, I had also applied Magic Cladding.

A simple fire attribute magic has no effect on Alumist.

But if I enhance it with wind magic to create a flame attribute magic...

"Hiyah!!"

With my wind magic sword clad in fire, I cut down two Alumist in one go.

The remaining eight showed a look of surprise. The fact that monsters show reactions and emotions like that is one of the things that's different from the game.

Being surprised about something means it can become an opening.

I went on to defeat the remaining Alumist who had frozen in place.

"Phew. Glad I bought that scroll."

One million was expensive, but efficiency is key, so it can't be helped.

By the way, I purchased the scroll from one of the members of the clear team the Shinonome Group had dispatched to the Ash Dungeon. Since the Shinonome Group is also the one providing me with funds, it's less like I paid and more like I returned a little of it.

If I asked Shinonome-san, he would probably provide me with additional funds.

But even I don't plan on asking for more after being entrusted with 50 billion yen. And I fully intend to return what's left over. I'm trying not to waste money as much as possible, and I'm only using everything I've got for the truly necessary spending to achieve the fastest clear.

Coming this far, I'm once again reminded of just how insane the power of money is.

Even though it's to save Rena, I'm aware that I'm spending money in a reckless way that I wouldn't be able to under normal circumstances. I'm doing things I could never have done with just the funds I got from my streams before.

I guess this counts as a money cheat?

It could break the game balance, so once I rescue Rena, I'll stop relying on Shinonome-san's help. I've had more than enough fun running wild with my four-sword style.

If someone's life isn't on the line, I want to enjoy clearing dungeons at my own pace. Clearing them at top speed is fun in its own way, but I still want to get stronger little by little through my own efforts.

Even though there was a reason, I've pushed myself a bit too hard up to now. A clear speed that's so different from everyone else's probably won't sit well with the Goddess who made the dungeons appear in this world either.

If something like that puts the Goddess in a bad mood and my four-sword style gets nerfed or discontinued, I'll be in trouble.

"I'll clear this place quickly, and after that, I'm going to take it a little easier."

I made a declaration to the people who were likely watching my dungeon clear via stream, and to the Goddess.

After a few more battles, I arrived in front of the dungeon boss's room.

In Farhlm World Online, the mechanic is that you fight the dungeon boss after defeating the mid-boss in the antechamber. If the back-to-back fights are too tough, you can leave the dungeon once. A player who has defeated the mid-boss can go straight to the boss fight on their second attempt.

If I remember correctly, the boss here was the Great Water Spirit Undine, and the mid-boss was its guardian, the water dragon Leviathan.

I checked my weapons and then opened the door to the boss's antechamber.

"...Huh? What is that?"

I had been expecting a giant water dragon to be waiting for me.

But what was in the vast antechamber was a humanoid figure about the same height as me. It held twin swords in both hands and was equipped with a Manipulator on its back. Its face was like an iron golem's, with no mouth or nose, and several things that looked like eyes.

"That's not human, is it."

It looked like a four-sword style swordsman.

Just as I took a step forward to get a better look, the swordsman took a stance.

"Hey. You've got to be kidding me."

What surprised me was that it was a stance I knew well.

Even if there aren't many, there are about 800 four-sword style users in the world. I've memorized the stances of the particularly strong ones, but this swordsman's stance was different from all of them.

"So the mid-boss is a copy of me."

A change in the dungeon's specs at this stage. I think it's probably been changed to a monster that mimics the appearance of the clearer who has come up the dungeon.

The Goddess doesn't intend to hand over the trophy so easily. This might be my toughest opponent yet. I might struggle more than I ever have in the game.

That said, I have no intention of losing. To save Rena, I have to win.

"The strongest enemy is yourself, huh? Interesting. In that case, if I've gotten stronger since the copy was made, I can win, right? I'll make you understand that a copy can't beat the original."

I readied my four swords and charged at the swordsman.