「Eat this! Skill Taker!」
The demon shouted this while pushing his hand forward.
『Ku-! He got us!』
Just like the name implies, it’s a skill to steal an opponent’s skill. The demon hadn’t used it at all during the fight, so I had come to the conclusion that it had some sort of difficult condition to invoke — like ‘must be touching the opponent’ or ‘must invoke over a long period of time’! But in the end, it’s merely shouting and pointing!
For it to be feasible to invoke it with just that…! With a shout brimming with confidence to that degree, it can only be assumed that the invocation condition was fulfilled.
He said that he would steal Fran’s combat power, so did he take Sword Arts and Sword Techniques? Just when I had raised those skills with great troubles…! Having to raise them a second time is… — No, rather than that, if Swords Techniques is taken right now, our death is almost assured!
『Tsk, depending on the case, we’ll have to use the Feather of Return!』
「Nn!」
「…」
The demon, still standing with his hand outstretched, didn’t move. Fran also didn’t look as though anything happened.
… Huh?
『…… Fran, are you alright?』
「?」
「Tsk! It failed, huh!」
Lucky. Somehow it seems to have failed. So maybe its success isn’t always certain?
Well, our situation is a bit unique, too. The skills Fran’s using aren’t her own, they’re mine. In other words, they’re the ‘equipped weapon’s’ special-ability category Skills. Even if a plundering-series skill is directed at Fran, it’s possible that the Skills won’t be stolen from her equipment.
「This damn– Rrrg! Can’t do anything about it if it didn’t work. In that case, eat this! Darkness・Vortex!」
Looking angry, the demon fired off Darkness Magic. It’s a huge vortex of darkness that shaves off the ground like a drill while approaching Fran.
So, he’s started using spells… Looking at his Status, he truly seems like a long distance bombardment type.
「Haー!」
And yet, it just can’t hit Fran.
「Oi! Once more!」
「Hoー」
「Tsk!」
Even if its attack power is high, his attacks are too monotonous. He’s just like the Fran from a short time ago: undoubtedly strong, but with little combat experience. Well, he has only just been created by the dungeon master.
「Dark・Spear!」
『Fire・Wall!』
「Darkness・Blaster!」
「Naive.」
「RRrrrg! Stop movin’ around!」
It’s Darkness Magic, so it should really have a bunch of diabolical spells attacking the opponent’s weak points… But this is several times more detestable. They’re nothing but one-hit kill spells.
In this match, Fran is at a disadvantage. After all, the amount of brute strength between the two is too big. Our attacks can’t attain a decisive blow, while this guy’s all bring certain death.
Gradually, the times that Fran speaks decrease. It seems our leeway is being lost. Should we flee now?
It’s just… We still haven’t raised any considerable accomplishments. By running wild in the Dungeon, we managed to cut down the number of goblins. Because of that, I think the objective of preventing them from going towards the town has been achieved… But originally, that would have been done by the C and D rank Adventurers.
And so, that brings us to this demon. If only something could be done about this guy, it’d be the same as capturing this dungeon. Even if it’s been decided that we’ll escape, for Donna’s group who will be fighting this guy later, I want to leave a bit more damage on this guy.
「Black・Bomb!」
「Mu…」
「Uwaa!」
The demon, after losing its temper, started scattering a bunch of wide-range spells. This is bad. In risk of being swallowed up, even the dungeon master is raising screams. Thankfully, we were saved by the narrow room. Had it been a bigger space, we might have been annihilated by a more extensive spell. In here, however, the dungeon master would be dragged into it.
『No, wait!』
I might have stumbled upon a good idea.
『He’s a demonic beast of the dungeon.』
I recall Donna’s explanation. He had explained a couple of things before the departure, but in summary it was stuff along the lines of ‘the dungeon core can be reused, so don’t destroy it’. At that time, he also gave a rough explanation of the core and its master.
The dungeon’s nucleus is the dungeon core. If it’s destroyed, the dungeon dies. Any created monsters, alongside the dungeon master, are destroyed in that case. The core is protected by a high density barrier so that half-hearted attacks won’t be able to destroy it, but…
Connected to the dungeon core is the dungeon master. If the master dies, the core supposedly becomes dormant.
More important than that, however, is that if the dungeon master gets annihilated, all dungeon monsters bite the dust — just like when the core is destroyed.
In other words…
『If that goblin gets defeated, the demon also vanishes!』
「―― Fire・Arrow」
「Ah― b-bastard! That’s cowardly!」
Seeing the spell fired by Fran, the demon performed a transfer in a state of panic, protecting the Goblin. As expected, my guess was right on the mark.
The dungeon master has a Scapegoat Bracelet equipped, but in the current situation, it’d use its only revival after an instant death. After that, only the worst course of events would await, so this guy can’t afford to not protect the dungeon master. Even though he isn’t bound by any sort of contract, it doesn’t mean that he’s disconnected from the reality that he is, in the end, a ‘dungeon monster’.
「*niyari*[M1]」
「This brat– don’t get conceited!」
『Fire・Javelin』
「Seriously? With no chant?!」
Nope, it’s me using stealthily magic.
「Fire・Arrow!」
『Tri・Explosion!』
「Fire・Arrow!」
『Fire・Blast!』
*Bon, BAN, DogOOn!*
Firing nonstop spells, the demon is completely engulfed.
「Kuー!」
「Hiiiiiiii!」
If it’s only being grazed by the explosive flames, it’s hard for the dungeon master to die. As long as the demon bastard doesn’t move, we’re at a standstill.
「You idiot! It’s ‘cause of this that I said t’ make my combat area in the room before this one!」
「B…B-B…B-BE QUIET! If you didn’t stay here, then this room’s defensive combat power is lost!」
This dungeon master is an idiot beyond saving.
Bit by bit the demon’s HP decreases, but this guy’s magic defense is higher than expected… Like this, our side will run out of magical power first.
『Fran, change of plans.』
「Understood.」
I continue to cast magic non-stop with double chanting while Fran chants the Wind Magic spell she learned just now.
Lv.4 Wind magic: Sonic Shooter. In a nutshell, it’s a spell to increase the speed of a thrown object using the power of the wind. Once it’s used, manipulating the object’s trajectory is possible to a certain extent.
「Ready.」
『Mh, I’m ready any time.』
「Ha―!」
『Hyaaー!』
I’m sent flying on a trajectory circumventing the demon, approaching the Goblin.
「What kind of skillful action isー! Wind magic? Even with that, I won’t let ya!」
Because of the spells coming from Fran, the demon can’t move imprudently. Therefore, he swung his right arm widely, wanting to knock me down. Even when coming at high speeds, the demon seems to be able to perfectly see me, huh…
The demon’s fist draws near, matched up perfectly ――― and misses.
「Wha―?! Gaha!!」
At the last moment, I altered my trajectory with Wind magic and released my amassed telekinesis all in one go. It’s the nostalgic Telekinesis Catapult Attack. With it, I charged towards Demon’s defenseless torso.
Of course, most of our remaining magical power was transmitted into my blade. This was meant to be our final attack, so if it fails the only remaining option is to flee via transfer.
「Im…poss…ible…!」
『I somehow made it…』
Even this demon couldn’t defend against the Telekinesis Catapult given these circumstances. Piercing the demon’s barrier, the tip of my blade is buried deep into its chest.
Still, it gave me a cold sweat when I found its left arm thrust between me and its body. When did it even do that?! Had I been stingy with the conducted magic power, I might have been in a tough spot to pierce that arm… It seems that I took the demon too lightly.
「N-No way… The Demon got …?」
「UoOo………」
I had split the magic stone perfectly in two. Now, it was being absorbed into my blade.
「Gaaaaa―――!」
Having his magic stone completely devoured, the demon raised a dying shriek filled with agony before falling down on the spot. Fuuー Thank goodness. He didn’t turn into something like silver dust[M2], so I got worried that he might have not been dead, but the raw materials — or rather, its corpse was properly left behind.
We won’t stow it away, however. It’s a shame, but I plan to pass the body of the demon to the Guild as an apology for rushing ahead. Besides, even if we collected it secretly, it would be difficult to keep hidden. The reason for that is related to the dungeon core’s system.
While dormant, the core can be used (with certain limitations) by pouring magical power into it. It’s limited to creating things that it formed while it was alive, but bringing forth Items and Demonic Beasts is possible. With the magical power of humans, nothing great can be summoned, but… Even so, anyone who touches the dungeon core can see the list of things possible to be summoned. In other words, when someone reused this dungeon core, the Demon would end up listed.
Yeah. Assuming we secretly take the demons raw materials, we’ll definitely be busted. Once that happens, we’re assured to have a massive amount of envy and enmity aimed at us.
Therefore, we’ve decided to leave the body to the Guild. But first… A small disguise has to be made. With help of an explosion spell, we blow away the area around the Demon’s heart, resulting in a large hole opening up in its chest.
With this, we can just say that the magic stone was smashed to pieces and vanished due of Fran’s attack. The end. It should work as an excuse for why only the body remained… I hope.
We could also insist that we’d only be taking the magic stone, but that would mean that Fran’s share would be too big. Doing that would definitely incur the resentment of the other Adventurers. Well, I guess there will be a lot of fellows who won’t believe that we didn’t take it too, but that can’t really be helped. One can’t give what one doesn’t have.
The Demon’s sword we have honorably received. If it’s this, we might be able to sell it after falsifying its origin. Worst case scenario, we’ll end up breaking it down and selling the materials.
Ah, while we were at it, we also finished off the dungeon master. To utilize the core, the dungeon master is said to be a hindrance after all. First, we deprived him of the Scapegoat Bracelet, then we vigorously cut him part. Scapegoat Bracelet, GET.
「Teacher.」
Fran pushed her fist into the air, making a victory pose. It was a somewhat cowardly tactic, but she looks happy having beaten a higher ranked opponent.
Alright! As one would expect from a demon’s magic stone.
From the fighting until now, my magic stone value had been 2599/2800. Now, it was 3099/3600. It ended raising by 500.
『With this, various power ups are possible.』
「Nn.」
Fran’s level also increased 8 times! This time we obtained something similar to a victory thanks to the incompetency of the dungeon master, it was truly a godsend.
*gogogo*
Oh, it appears that the seal on the gates have been lifted.
「Oooi! Little miss, are you there?」
「I-Isn’t… Isn’t this a demon―?!」
「S-Seriously?!」
[M1] The hyperbole for ‘broadly grinning’.
[M2]Bosses in certain games do this.
