kscans

Chapter 70 - 070

This was my first time visiting Izumo Grand Shrine.

Kiyohara-san said I didn't have to, but since I was going to see a god, I decided to follow the formal procedure and pay my respects at the main hall. It was a good opportunity, after all.

I was never the type to believe in gods or ghosts. But after hearing that a god truly exists, I felt like I had really received some power by praying.

"Shizukuishi-sama, this way."

"Yes."

I followed Kiyohara-san toward the back of the main hall.

According to a pamphlet they were handing out on the grounds, there was a shrine called Soga no Yashiro. It was apparently dedicated to Susanoo-no-Mikoto, famous for defeating the Yamata no Orochi.

Around here, I could feel something close to my master’s presence.

"From this point on, not even the priests are permitted to enter. You will have to proceed alone, Shizukuishi-sama."

He told me to enter the mountain behind the shrine.

"Um, is there something like a dungeon entrance?"

"I am afraid I do not know that much... Juuzo-sensei simply said, ‘Just keep moving forward.’ Those were his words."

Not explaining everything is so typical of my master.

"Alright. I’m heading in."

"Be careful."

Kiyohara-san said he would be waiting at a nearby hotel.

Am I going straight to where the god is? Or is it more like entering a dungeon?

Either way, if I don't come back within a week, things will apparently get bad.

I only had the ninja rations Kiyohara-san gave me for food, and my phone was taken away because the zaibatsu could track my location via GPS, so I couldn't contact Rena.

I wanted to finish this as quickly as possible and head back.

As I walked on with these thoughts, I saw a dungeon entrance on the ground.

It looked like a black puddle, and I couldn't see what lay beyond. This feeling reminded me of the hidden event dungeons in FWO. It was set to Grade 3, so I should be able to enter it at my current level.

Apparently, due to the influence of Japan's god here, the inside would not be forcibly streamed.

"Well then, time for a power-up quest!"

I jumped into the dungeon.

---*---

S-Something’s wrong...

The monsters were too strong. I couldn’t believe I was struggling this much in a Grade 3 dungeon.

The monsters were the same as those in FWO’s underground event dungeons, but their health was abnormally high. Their speed was also on a completely different level from any enemy I had faced before. I had been dodging all of their attacks, so I didn't know what their attack power was like, but I had a feeling getting hit would be bad.

Every monster was as strong as Undine when the Goddess was controlling her.

I had been proceeding while avoiding combat as much as possible, but this was a really bad situation.

"...It’s apparently not being streamed, so maybe I should just use my power."

It would be seriously impossible without using my ninja powers. I couldn’t die in a place like this!

And so...

"Fighting Spirit Release!!"

I released the restraints I had placed on myself, which had limited me to the muscular strength a high school student could produce. My cognitive abilities and reaction speed also increased.

By the way, "Fighting Spirit Release" was a shout I used in FWO when I got serious during boss fights. By simultaneously activating an effect that made my aura overflow, I could create a certain "look."

I had asked for suggestions on my stream for a cool shout to get myself pumped up, and that was the best one. Back then it was just a game, so I wasn't using any real ninja powers.

But now, for the first time since my training with my master, I had released my power.

My body felt light. My thoughts were fast. I could perceive every move the enemy made.

I was now able to easily defeat the monsters I had thought were strong just moments ago.

I can do this!

I cut down the enemies that appeared one after another. I no longer needed to run or hide.

I remembered the shortest route to clear this dungeon.

I just needed to push straight ahead to the boss room. This kind of thing was fun once in a while!

I reached the room where the mid-boss was.

With my momentum unchecked, I instantly pulverized the Oomukade that was there.

This underground event dungeon had a feature where the monsters that appeared varied depending on the region the player lived in. For players accessing the Japanese server, monsters from Japanese mythology would appear.

So the final boss was that familiar guy from Japanese myths.

As I entered the boss room, a cry like a dragon's roar echoed.

A monster appeared from the back of the room. A single torso with eight heads and eight tails.

Its form was more massive than any dungeon boss I had fought before, and it was said to be like a mountain moving. In the FWO game, it was a high-difficulty content that recommended an eight-person multiplayer party.

It was Yamata no Orochi.

"As huge as ever."

It was a real struggle to defeat it solo.

Come to think of it, it was possible to weaken this guy a little with a special item.

There was a gimmick where using sake, which was purchasable in-game, would lower Yamata no Orochi's attack speed. That should probably work this time too.

From the type of monsters I first encountered in the underground dungeon, I knew the final boss would be this guy.

"But I'm underage, so I can't buy alcohol."

So I’ll have to force my way through.

I leaped up and landed on one of Yamata no Orochi’s heads.

"Whoa, don't thrash around."

I stabbed the sword held by my manipulator into its head to stabilize my stance. My position was good, but the pain made Yamata no Orochi thrash about, making my footing unstable.

The other heads came to attack me.

Dodging their attacks, I spun and sliced into the neck connecting the head I had just been on to its torso.

"Severing it will just let it regenerate, so I'll just keep dealing damage."

That was the most important thing.

Not wanting to take a barrage of attacks from eight necks, many foreign FWO players who accessed the Japanese server from abroad would try to cut off the heads.

But if you severed a head, Yamata no Orochi would regenerate the neck. It was a brutal feature where its health would also recover. What was really nasty was that you couldn't deplete its health bar without attacking its necks until they were on the verge of being torn off.

If you accidentally landed another hit on a neck you had already dealt maximum damage to and lopped it off, you'd have to start attacking the fully healed neck all over again. It was a real pain.

Since it was a high-difficulty event monster, it wasn’t one you absolutely had to defeat. Many players gave up on trying to beat it.

But to meet the god, I had to defeat this thing.

So I slashed, and slashed, and slashed some more.

I inflicted gashes all over its body.

Along the way, I crushed its eyes and gouged out its nose.

I was sure it had pit organs and another sensory organ that functioned like a nose. I couldn't remember the name, but I knew where they were. I crushed all of them for all eight heads.

All that was left was to whittle down its health while dodging its rampaging necks and tails.

Well, that was the hard part...

If I was going to try this hard, I wish I could have streamed it. But then I couldn't have used Fighting Spirit Release, so it probably would have taken much longer.

I continued my assault with these thoughts in my mind.

The core, protected by the sturdy torso, was becoming exposed.

"This is... the end!!"

I succeeded in destroying the core.

The colossal body collapsed and stopped moving.

"I’m exhausted!"

I fought pretty seriously, but I didn't expect it to be this much of a struggle.

For an ordinary person, even with an eight-person party, it would probably be tough without equipment from a Grade 8 dungeon.

I managed to defeat it without taking any damage, so I guess that’s good enough.

"Oh. A rare drop. Lucky!"

Since it was an event and high-difficulty boss, the probability of getting a good piece of equipment, what you could call a rare drop, was reasonably high.

A single sword lay where Yamata no Orochi’s tail had been.

It was the divine sword, Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, which could be active even in Grade 10 dungeons and beyond if enhanced.

In FWO, you could get divine swords modeled after those in myths from various countries around the world, but Japan’s strongest divine sword was without a doubt this one.

Just getting this made it worth coming here today. But I was also looking forward to seeing what kind of power I would receive from the god after this.

I stored the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi in my item box and decided to proceed through the door at the back of the boss room.