I found out about the goddess of love’s preferences that I didn’t want to know, but aside from that, the results were somewhat satisfying.
Carrying Benny on my back, as we returned to Fairy and Silver Coin, Ellie, who had been absentmindedly smoking mana herb cigarettes, stared over here.
She seems to want to say something, but isn’t able to get it out easily, so I waved at her.
“Hey Ellie!”
“Uh. You’re back.”
“I was wondering how far you got on the fourth floor. Seeing you carried back by Benny, I take it you’re doing okay, right?”
“……”
I grinned at Ellie, who nodded slightly as if feeling awkward.
“There were some fun things that happened, but…”
“But?”
I gave a subtle smile towards Ellie, who perked up her ears.
“It’s a secret from you!”
“…What?”
“Oh, but could you come watch the floor guardian hunt two days from now? I’ll show you everything then and let you know what happened.”
“It’s not like it’s a parent-teacher meeting or anything.”
Ellie chuckled, but then nodded.
“Okay. Let’s keep it as a surprise for then.”
“Yup!”
Waving goodbye to Ellie, I hopped off Benny’s back. I patted Benny’s behind to say thanks and headed upstairs.
I could hear Benny and Ellie’s desperate excuses behind me, but it wasn’t particularly important.
This time, I would reinvest all the money from the byproducts and mana stones back into the gacha.
“Turn, gacha star…!”
And the mana herb increased tremendously.
…Well, the goddess of love put in quite a bit of effort this time, so it can’t be helped.
Still, since we caught so many monsters and the byproduct prices spiked on the fourth floor, I was able to do quite a bit of gacha.
Perhaps tomorrow. That is, if I manage to gather a decent stack from the monsters in the center of the fourth floor, I can expect a significant amount.
The next day, after sleeping soundly with only mana herbs.
For some reason, Benny looked tired, so I lifted his chin and declared.
“Today, we’re going to the center.”
“Uh….”
“But running is bothersome, so this time, can you carry me again, Benny…?”
“…Hey! You know full well what you’re doing, right?!”
“No? What’s with the sudden accusation?”
I shrugged innocently and continued.
“I was going to ask you to use a magic spell to boost my movement speed or maybe to borrow a shadow, but why are you getting angry all of a sudden? Just say you don’t want to if you don’t.”
“You just said ‘carry me!’ I heard it all!”
“Tch.”
This time, I couldn’t help but wonder what expression Ellie would make if I asked her to carry me again.
“Well, that aside. Are you ready, Benny? Ellie seems to be preparing everything and is heightening her senses.”
“Me? Don’t worry. I’m getting ready properly. I guarantee that no mage can imitate me! Of course, they won’t be able to properly fend me off either.”
Light banter as usual. However, the determination in his gaze was completely different.
The goal of this speedrun is ultimately to squeeze in between Ellie and Benny as they go recuperar Lydia, who was taken to Historia.
In essence, the main characters of this plan are not me but Ellie and Benny.
…Even knowing that, I want to help retrieve Lydia with my own hands.
“I was worried because I thought I was taking too much of your time, but if you’re okay with it, let’s hurry and enter the labyrinth.”
“Yes. How far are we going today?”
“How far? Well….”
I planned to do a thorough tour around the deepest center.
*
A surprisingly synergistic combination. And thanks to Benny being a high-ranking adventurer with a remarkably high level of spirit and its magnitude, we nearly swept through the entrance and the middle layer.
Of course, there were minor hiccups, like misunderstandings leading to confrontations with adventurers and the Banshee Queen coming out of her territory to ambush us…
Regardless, my strategy for the fourth floor went exactly as planned.
Now that I’m used to using my powers, what could happen now?
-You! Become my ally!
Last time, I annihilated the Banshee Queen, but this time, I resurrected her as my minion.
Summoning the undead in a much faster and more efficient manner, I started raising stronger undead one by one, even if it meant sacrificing some along the way.
And during moments where I felt a bit drained, I also moved my body directly.
…However, carrying a horde of undead around inevitably drew the attention of adventurers nearby, as expected.
If it had been another layer, the complex terrain and numerous obstacles would have made it hard to spot each other, but.
The fourth floor is based on sheer numbers.
It’s just an open, massive graveyard. Most of the fields consist of this, making it a place where one can easily spot other adventurers from afar.
As before, the adventurers noticed us from a distance or ran into us occasionally, looking startled…
Perhaps word had spread; even faces I didn’t recognize greeted us and silently left instead.
-People should do good deeds, right?
“…The elven adventurers are looking at you, Jonah, with some dangerous eyes. Are you sure you’re okay?”
-Eh. There are more than a couple of elves looking at me like that, you know? …Sure, it’s a bit intense this time, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.
“Jeez, that’s unsettling.”
While I shrugged, Benny shook her head.
Well, what can I do now? I just have to push forward.
The undead I command are mostly large, and special entities like the Banshee Queen would be just two at most.
The overall number has diminished significantly, but…. Given that I’ve already taken command over more than two undead from the center, the battles here are more than half successful already.
With me joining in, it might take a bit of time, but I can definitely take them down.
And so, in addition to the Banshee Queen, I started collecting classic undead monsters like the Death Knight and Archlich.
From the giant bone centipede made of spines and arms, the abomination that is roughly human-like made of rotten flesh, to chimera undead made by combining various bones and flesh from corpses.
All sorts of gruesome yet equally powerful monsters began to be added to my collection one by one.
The number of undead rising exponentially. Even the Banshee Queen, with just one controlled, began to command her fellow undead as well.
While before they merely formed a lengthy line, now it truly felt like a real army, devoid of exaggeration.
-…Benny. Should we just rest here for a day?
“Suddenly?”
-But look! I’ve collected so many like this. Do you really want to demolish it with my own hands? Plus, this many monsters would be good for when the layer guardian comes out.
“Hm. You’re right; we have gathered quite a lot here…”
Benny, who looked around at the horde of undead and exhaled a sigh.
“But using undead to take down the layer guardian on the fourth floor is simply impossible. It’s not a matter of strength but a matter of compatibility.”
-That does seem likely, yes.
The layer guardian of the fourth floor is the Grim Reaper. In simpler terms, a version of the Death God.
Fighting against the powers left behind by the god buried in that layer? Alongside the layer guardian?
Of course, that’s nearly madness.
-But won’t it still help a little?
“That may be true. But we have to maintain this until tomorrow, you know?”
-…That sounds tiring.
Thanks to the extraordinary level of the spirit, increasing the number of undead I control isn’t difficult.
The problem is that there is a limit to the mental and divine power needed to move those undead.
“What are you going to do if you lose control midway? They may be obeying your commands now, but they are still undead monsters that were dead and revived, after all.”
-If the time limit expires, I guess I’ll be attacked. It’s a pity. I thought it would hold up against the layer guardian.
Nodding as I licked my lips, Benny continued in a slightly more relaxed tone.
“Instead, why don’t we take a good rest and meet tomorrow in perfect condition? …And this is something you can’t tell Ellie.”
-What is it? Are you trying to ask for something naughty? You won’t get paid either, you know?
“That’s not it?! …And does it count if I pay you?!”
-The minimum amount is 100 million gold.
“Why not just say no…!”
Benny spoke, deflating like a balloon, following up with his words.
“……You know, one of the Grim Reaper’s skills is summoning undead. I thought it’d be better for you to take control when he does that and turn the tables.”
-Ooh.
If this works out, it means I’d be getting help from Benny to take down the layer guardian, but… I just have to keep my mouth shut.
-Now I have a weakness on you, Benny!
“Is that what you say to someone who took a risk to help you?!”
Benny trembled with betrayal but quickly calmed down.
Once again, unable to return after having obliterated the undead he was controlling, he melted them down with the purifying light in a flash.
Once more, with Benny carrying me just like yesterday, he was grinning as we returned to Fairy and Silver Coin.
And the next day, the layer guardian hunt finally began.
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