A subterranean cave, covered in glowing crystals from all directions.
To Reed’s eyes, it probably looked like a dragon’s treasure horde, overflowing with gold and silver. He had a totally mesmerized expression on his face.
Well, it wasn’t too different from that, anyway. The cave was entirely made of glowing crystals, including the walls, ceiling, stalactites, and stalagmites.
“……”
While Reed was over the moon about this jackpot, I felt a creeping sense of foreboding. It was like witnessing Cherenkov radiation with my own eyes.
Didn’t Reed just say earlier? The brighter the glowing crystal, the more magical power it absorbs and the less it releases.
If that’s the case, it means this space must have been once engulfed in enormous magical power to fill all these crystals, right?
Thinking that way, the magical light from those crystals felt a tad unwelcome. I didn’t want to dampen Reed and Arine’s spirits, so I kept that suspicion to myself.
“Hey, Krimhilde. Are you… okay? Anything worrying you?”
Only Friede seemed to see through my carefully hidden apprehension, tugging at my sleeve and quietly asking about it.
I was thankful, but it felt a bit embarrassing to admit I was nervous over glowing crystals, so I opted for a vague excuse instead.
“…It’s nothing. Just, the journey down here hasn’t been tidy, so I thought the way ahead might be pretty rough.”
I wasn’t completely lying, but I wasn’t being entirely honest either.
Upon hearing my words, Friede lightly patted her small chest and smiled as if to reassure me.
“If that’s the case, don’t worry. I believe that, as long as we’re together, we can get through any crisis!”
“Uh?”
What’s with this sudden display of cringey cheerfulness?
Though she probably meant to encourage me in her own way, her overly ‘heroic’ statement made me feel anything but reassured.
It felt more like looking at a little girl beamingly declaring, “Mommy, I’ll protect you!”
A mix of pride, cuteness, and a tinge of anxiety surged within me, making me feel an overwhelming need to protect her.
Right, with a girl younger than my original age cheering so hard, I couldn’t afford to show any weakness.
“Alright, I’ll believe in you too. So let’s do our best, my little hero.”
I gently ruffled Friede’s hair and smiled brightly, completely forgetting my worries.
Thus began our exploration of the 7th floor.
◆◆
The 7th floor was bright enough to strain one’s eyes with the vibrant glow of crystals, but thankfully, that meant we had little to worry about being ambushed.
The light was so blinding that there was no chance for attackers to hide in the darkness.
– Goooosh…!
So, it was my instincts that kicked in rather than my reason when an ambush I could never predict was made.
Shiver!
While exploring the crystal cave, a sudden sense of danger shot down my spine, and I instinctively twisted my body, swinging my sword in the direction my instincts guided.
– Kwah-boom!
Normally, a strike like that would just hit the wall. But instead, it pierced through and smashed into the armored arm of a crystal monster.
“Everyone, battle position! We’ve got enemies!”
The creature was made of translucent, shimmering crystals.
It resembled a long-arm monkey statue with bat-like wings and a platypus beak, taking a step back in astonishment as it regarded its shattered left arm.
A gargoyle. And a crystal one at that.
“Crystal gargoyle…? What in the world…?”
As Reed mumbled that, he suddenly froze, digging through his quiver in panic at the sight behind it.
“Grrrr…”
Gargoyles were crawling from the ground, ceiling, and walls like they were so much clay.
So that’s why this place was crystal-covered everywhere.
Originally, gargoyles are monsters infused with artificial life through demon magic, like how golems are made.
They aren’t as strong as golems and lack regenerative powers, but thanks to their wings, they could glide through the air for a short while—heatwave golems, if you will.
And crystals, being materials, could definitely be enchanted into gargoyles.
Why they’d choose to make gargoyles from crystals instead of plain stone is beyond me.
Anyway, after crafting these crystal gargoyles, they must have scattered them around the cave using transformation magic to create this crystal cave.
“Let’s fight by breaking instead of cutting! They won’t die until their heads are smashed!”
Rushing towards the one-armed gargoyle, I turned Edelmut upside down and grasped the blade rather than the hilt.
The gargoyle’s weak point isn’t a sliced blow but a blunt strike. Hitting them with a blunt object is way more effective than slashing with a sword.
Sure, I could slice them with my strength, but I’d rather punch or use the crossguard as a club like right now—
grabbing the sword upside down still gave me a decent striking power akin to a pickaxe.
“Got it!”
“Why do we keep getting foes that are resistant to arrows…!”
Friede was swinging her black iron greatsword at the crystal gargoyle, as if cutting and crushing it didn’t differ much, whacking it like she was mining.
Meanwhile, Reed grumbled that someone must have created this dungeon with a grudge against archers, preparing to aim at the flying gargoyles with deliberately crushed arrows.
– Wooooosh!
Four arrows were shot one after another, causing two gargoyles to crash down into pieces on the ground. His skill was good enough that he could pat himself on the back.
“Chains of guilt, may your original sin bind you in shackles!”
Arine, now wanting her axe to shine, tried to bind the nearest gargoyle with light chains, but sadly, her attempt failed.
– Suuu…!
The light chains disintegrated as soon as they snared the body of the crystal gargoyle.
The gargoyle dashed toward her, its claws slamming against her shield, followed by its tail attack halted by her axe.
Despite her perfect defense, Arine was overpowered by the strength difference and was knocked back. Filling that gap, Friede rushed forward, crushing the gargoyle’s two legs with her greatsword.
“Elianel!”
Continued counterattacks! Arine’s light arrow flew toward the gargoyle’s head—
– Suuu…!
It evaporated like cotton candy dropped in water.
A crack appeared on the gargoyle’s platypus beak, but at this rate, Arine’s attack was nearly perfectly nullified.
Arine gaped in surprise, and Friede took the chance to smash the gargoyle’s head into bits.
The head that had withstood the light arrow was no match as Friede’s greatsword shattered it effortlessly.
…See, it wasn’t my eyes deceiving me.
It wasn’t that their defense was high enough to withstand the light arrow.
No, it was nullification. Unlike regular gargoyles, these crystal gargoyles were absorbing and nullifying divine miracles unleashed by Arine.
The ability to absorb supernatural energies—like magic and divine miracles—was a characteristic known as ‘ability absorption’ in the original novel.
So, maybe that’s why they made gargoyles from glowing crystals.
Ordinary glowing crystals can’t do that.
While glowing crystals absorb magical power and radiate it as light, if their absorption rate could nullify magic or divine miracles, knights in every nation would be adorned in crystal armor.
So, likely, they added some sort of modification to standard glowing crystals through demon techniques, enhancing them to reach the ability absorption trait.
What we were facing were these things—clusters of crystal gargoyles, running amok while dismissing enemy magic and miracles with their ability absorption.
“Miracles aren’t working! Just beat them to death!”
I shouted advice to Arine, who was popping up, thanking Friede, and plunged the upside-down Edelmut into the frowning gargoyle’s forehead.
As I received its claw strike against my chest plate, I unleashed a powerful counterattack.
My strike plunged into the crystal head like an intoxicated sculptor’s poorly wielded chisel, delivering a fierce impact.
– Smash!
Cracks radiated outward from the impact point, instantly becoming deep, significant fissures that shattered its upper body into splinters.
The gargoyle, its abdomen fully broken apart, toppled backward with a heavy thud.
◆◆
The ability-absorbing crystal gargoyles were indeed formidable foes. For mages or priests, they were monsters akin to natural enemies, but they couldn’t bring us down.
The core strength of our party was me and Friede, both powerful physical fighters.
In other words, if our party lacked physical power, it really had no means of dealing with these crystal gargoyles.
The slime horde we faced on the upper floor was an insurmountable challenge for pure warriors without mages or priests, in stark contrast to physical-focused parties being wiped out against the slime’s physical immunity.
‘What a malicious arrangement for monster types. Did they set it up on purpose?’
Warrior-dominated teams would be annihilated by slime’s physical immunity, while mage-and-priest teams venturing through slimes would be met with the fate of crystal gargoyles’ ability absorption, ensuring their demise.
The scheme of the dungeon designer was woven with a clear malice.
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