"Have we left it far behind yet?!" Kai panted as he glanced back.
"No idea... But I have a feeling it'll catch up," Lily said, sounding exhausted.
"Are you kidding me?! So we have to keep moving nonstop?!" Kai was getting really annoyed now.
Why did the worst things always happen to him? Making money felt like going into battle!
"In a shitty situation like this, you gotta flash a confident smile," Lily grinned.
"Just stop saying that."
"Um..."
Kanna's voice rang out, making Kai and Lily turn to look at her.
"I... know a rune spell that can block that monster."
"..."
Kai's hand touched Kanna's shoulder.
"I knew I could trust you. Saving you was never a wrong decision."
"Thanks?"
Then she pulled a sword out from her chest (how?) and drew rune letters on the ground.
Immediately, a barrier filled with rune letters appeared, blocking the path they'd just come through.
"This barrier is a bit weak, so it won't hold for long..."
"That's fine, it's perfect already. In the future, you'll definitely have a good husband," Kai patted Kanna's shoulder.
"Why bring that up out of nowhere??"
So the three decided to keep moving quickly; they couldn't stop here.
"Huff huff..." Kai wiped his sweat, looking at a vast empty area.
"This is..." Lily took the map from Kai's hand and examined it.
"...Do you even know how to read it before grabbing it?"
"No, but I remember the person who drew it said something about... Uhhh."
"...You forgot, right?"
"No, basically, that person wrote notes on the map in case I forgot something. Let's see... Here!"
I slowly snuck behind her, peeking at the line she was pointing to on the map.
𓇋 𓂧 𓅱 𓈖 𓏴 𓏏 𓎡 𓈖 𓅱 𓅱 𓏴 𓃭 𓅱 𓃭
We're fucking cooked.
"Heh, this has to be some kind of code. No way that person wrote it just for fun," Lily said confidently.
"..." I looked at her speechless, then observed the surroundings.
This place was wide and empty... Usually, areas like this in games are where monsters ambush players—I remember people saying that.
Or it could be a spot for a giant creature, the boss.
Heh, no way that happens. I might be unlucky, but not that unlucky.
"Ah! There's a gate over there!"
Hearing Kanna, Kai and Lily looked toward the dusty, rusted gate.
Hmm... A bit suspicious.
"Kai, don't run over and touch the gate. You might die," Lily warned.
"You think I'm a kid?"
"That would be good."
"What the hell do you mean by 'that would be good'??"
Kai then walked to the center and looked up.
It was so high up that the top was pitch black, impossible to see... Something felt off.
Why did it feel like... something was going to drop from up there?
N-No way! I've been getting paranoid lately, but definitely not that!
"Kai? Why are you pulling out your knife?"
"H-Huh? Ah well, you know? Just for defense?"
"But there's nothing here?"
After checking the map, the group decided to head for the iron door.
"It looks like that's the way back up to the upper floor. Lucky us."
"Hahh... I'm so tired. Kai? Why are you shaking like that?"
"It's nothing."
And so the three pushed the iron door open.
PEWWW!!
"AGHHHH!!"
Kai quickly shoved the two girls away and dropped to the ground just in time as the laser shot straight through the door.
"Wuwawoa?!" All three looked toward the attacker.
It was that monster from earlier!
"Fuck! It broke the barrier that fast??"
"I told you the barrier wouldn't hold long!!"
PEWWW!!!
It fired horizontally, shattering the surrounding walls and kicking up smoke and dust.
"Damn it! It's stronger than I thought! What now?!" I said anxiously.
"Eto..." Lily rummaged in her bag, pulling out two smoke bombs, a medical knife, and a bottle of alcohol.
"..."
I didn't blame her since she's a doctor... But at least carry some backup weapon or something?!
"You could pour the alcohol on the monster, and I can use rune magic to set it on fire," Kanna suggested.
"If there's free fire here, why need alcohol—wait."
Kai paused and looked at Lily.
"What's the proof on this alcohol?"
"...95%?"
...Holy shit. In my world, legal alcohol is only 70-90%; 95% is the strength of Spirytus Rektyfikowany vodka.
"...I have an idea."
"Idea?"
"Yeah..."
So Kai took the alcohol bottle, the two smoke bombs, and bit onto her medical knife.
The hunchback's knife was useless here—it couldn't do real damage. And with my luck and bad fortune, stabbing it 100 times probably wouldn't kill it.
Good thing I had the Martial Artist belt; it'd help me fight more skillfully and carry me far in this life.
Standing up, Kai looked at Kanna.
"Cast a rune on my body! The speed one!"
"Huh? Oh, sure!"
Kanna then held her sword and wrote rune letters, which flowed into my body.
"Alright... HERE WE GOOOOO!!!"
Kai charged at high speed, drawing the monster's full attention to himself.
Just before it punched Kai, he threw a smoke bomb at the ground, creating a white smoke cloud that blocked its vision.
PEWWWW!!!
It fired lasers from its eyes to clear the smoke quickly, only to take an elbow straight to the chin.
Its head snapped upward from the blow, and immediately a knife was jammed into its teeth.
"UOHHHHHH!!!"
As soon as its mouth opened a bit, Kai poured the alcohol straight down its throat.
Instantly, its two hands gripped me tightly.
It crunched the medical knife to bits and stared right at me, its eyes glowing.
"KAI!!" Kanna yelled worriedly.
"Hehe..."
PEWWWW!!!
The laser grazed past my ear, drawing blood, but that was enough.
It was drunk!
Its eyes were shaky, like it could barely focus on me.
"KANNA! HIT IT WITH EVERY ATTACK YOU'VE GOT!" I shouted. Kanna nodded and wrote rune letters with her sword.
Immediately, those turned into a barrage of fire, lightning, ice, and wind, all blasting toward the monster.
"Wait, why lightning? You trying to electrocute him too or what?" Lily raised an eyebrow at Kanna.
"...Ah."
Instantly, both the monster and I got zapped.
And worse, all four elements hit me too.
"AGHHHHH!!!"
Both the monster and I screamed in pain. Luckily, its grip loosened, letting me escape.
"OW OW OW! THAT HURT LIKE HELL! THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE!!"
Then I looked at the monster writhing in agony.
Wind blades sliced its flesh, ice spikes pierced its body, lightning struck it directly, and the fire plus alcohol made flames burst from its mouth.
See? Kanna's way stronger than me by miles. She just needs a tank to support her, and this would've been easy.
"Kai! I'm almost out of mana!!"
"Huh?!"
I looked at the monster—it was damaged but still not down.
"DAMNIT!" Kai rummaged in his bag for anything else.
One broken knife—it snapped when he and Kanna fell into the pit.
"A broken knife is still a knife!"
"KAI?! DON'T GET CLOSE—"
Kai stabbed hard into its belly, and electricity surged into me.
"DIE, YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!!" I gritted my teeth in pain and slashed hard.
Slash!
Blood sprayed all over my face, its guts spilled out—enough to make anyone puke.
Its eyes lost focus, and it collapsed to the ground.
"...Whoa." Lily clapped, impressed, while Kanna was shocked.
"Hahh... hahh... That's so exhausting!" Kai grabbed the last smoke bomb and handed it to Lily.
"Maybe the only thing that makes you clearly stronger than others is how tough and relentless you are at surviving, huh?" Lily smiled and took the smoke bomb.
"I can't die even if I want to. I've got family waiting for me, and the money I'm earning to send them."
"Wow, real family man. Kanna, hurry up and think of a way to flirt with him."
"H-Huh?! What the hell are you saying, Doctor?!" Kanna said flustered and embarrassed.
Ignoring the two bantering, Kai went to open the gate.
Kanna then noticed the monster lying on the ground, staring straight at everyone.
"EVERYONE! THE MONSTER!!"
Kai and Lily spun around in shock. The monster's eyes glowed, preparing to fire at them.
Only for a terrifying thunderclap loud enough to burst eardrums to ring out.
BOOM!!
A lightning bolt struck down directly on the monster, turning it to dust.
"..."
The three looked up as a gigantic creature flapped its wings powerfully, blue-green lightning crackling around it.
"Oh... Great." Kai facepalmed in despair.
Because as it landed, it revealed itself as a massive thunder bird.
Most likely the boss of this dungeon, or worse...
A hidden boss.
And since it's hidden, the dungeon's danger rating has nothing to do with the catastrophe it can cause.
Yeah, like having a four-armed, three-headed god wielding four swords standing on a lotus in an E-rank dungeon. Doesn't sound good at all.
It let out a deafening roar, its voice like thunder combined with something like Hawks' voice.
Raijindori (雷神鳥 - Thunder God Bird)
"WE'RE SO FUCKED!!!!!!"