The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter

「Isn’t that the cause for all of this…?」

Now everything makes sense. Accumulate magic power and when the time comes summon monsters. Return to zero and repeat. And the time period for it to accumulate enough magic power is ten years.

「Listen, both of you. This stone made by Gaien has been calling monsters.」

「Is that true?! No, the first-rate alchemist could be capable to create such a thing……」

「But what for? During his life Gaien was a hero that fended off monsters, right? He shouldn’t have any resentment towards the city.」

Yes, there should be no resentment. And then I remember that diary. The statement about wishing to live for eternity in the hearts of people if he can’t achieve actual immortality.

When peace comes people easily forget old heroes. So he regularly beckoned monsters to remind people about him?

A tale handed down to a new generation. That a long time ago, a great hero lived in Hornest. In fact, he has a huge success with it……

「Let’s break it. Right now.」

I pulled out the nameless hammer that would be suitable for destruction. It had 【Crushing Blow】 and also worked quite well against the stone statue in the hidden dungeon.

「Do it with a bang!」

「Yes, Noir-dono should end this circle of misfortune.」

If this thing is broken, the skill will become invalid and monsters will not gather here anymore. The seal worries me a little, but even if we take it into account, the stone ought to be destroyed.

「Eat this, Gaien!」

BAM! There is a vertical crack. If one attack is not enough, then I should just keep hitting. BAM BAM BAM! As I kept hitting, the stone finally cracked and crumbled.

The appraisal can no longer detect the skill.

「You did it!」

「As expected of Noir-dono.」

We do high five with Emma and Luna-san. But will monsters really retreat now? But before we could confirm it, a cloud of smoke came into our view.

「From the stone?」

Looks like it’s rising from the crushed stone——Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit us.

We closed our eyes, and in a short while before we opened them once again, an anomaly occurred on the plaza. Right behind the stone or put in other words, just in front of our eyes, now stood an unknown creature.

Clad in full plate armor that is probably not a human. The body is clearly too large. It’s about the same size as wyvern from the head to the tip of the tail, so it’s about five meters?

The weapon is also massive. It firmly held a great sword of about the same length as its height. As the seal was broken as well, the sealed creature came out.

「Gloooory to Gaaaien!」

Is this Gaien? Surely not. Most likely, this creature was sealed to prevent the destruction of the stone. Or maybe to enact revenge in case the stone was broken. Either way, Gaien is an awful man.

◇ ◆ ◇

The only way to break Hornest from the circle of misfortune is to destroy the stone of peace. There is a possibility that monsters will also retreat, and considering the future, I think it was the best course of action.

However, presented with intimidating foe I kinda want to run away now. Special armor of the one that appeared to be Gaien’s ally was shining silvery from head to toes and the heavy blade of his great sword looked like it could split a mountain in two.

Upon appraisal, I want to cry even more.

Name: Gaien Guardian

Level: 250

Skills: Great Sword Technique C, Physical Resistance A, Abnormal Status Resistance S

Isn’t he perfect in both offense and defense? He probably served as a guard to Gaien when he was alive.

Level-wise he is close to the magma fish but the size is completely different. That fish was still better.

「Doesn’t this look… A bit impossible?」

「Emma, I’m of the same mind, normally I would’ve run. Normally.」

The big issue is that we are in the middle of the town. Were we to leave him alone and he went for the buildings, the damage would easily exceed that from the wyvern.

「To protect citizens we have no choice but to take him on.」

With a gallant look, Luna fired several quick shots. I was about to shout how cool she was, but since the opponent wasn’t affected at all, I closed my mouth.

On top of being protected by armor, the body itself is highly resistant to attacks. How do we fight this? The guardian prepared to swing down its sword.

「Let’s take distance.」

We turned around and dashed away in unison. Perhaps due to its size, but Guardian’s movements lacked agility. We safely made it out of range——Despite that, he swung down the greatsword and utterly destroyed the fountain.

Taking that would mean instant death. That’s for sure.

We scatter around and surround the Guardian. Those whom he isn’t facing attack him. But sadly enough, we deal him no damage.

It feels just too tough. With a big hammer in my hands, I move close to his feet. I thought that with such an extremely long sword he will have a hard time quickly responding if I were to close the distance.

「HAIL GAIEN’S NAME.」

「I refuse to hail such extraordinary scum, even if it kills me.」

I hit it with all my power, but the strike is repelled by the armor. So this also doesn’t work at all……

「Noir, watch out.」

「Whoa?!」

Guardian tried to stomp me. As it would’ve left me as a splatter on the ground, I made a desperate effort to get away from there.

Phew, that was close. Though Luna-san and Emma kept attacking him with magic and ranged attacks, the opponent was absolutely fine and kept swinging the greatsword around.

Each time he swung down the sword, the stone pavement would take great damage and debris would scatter all over the place. How can we deal with this guy?

As I look back on my previous experiences, I remember one important thing. I have fought against an opponent who had powerful but slow attacks. Dead Reaper on the first floor of the hidden dungeon. When I defeated that thing that had an instant death skill on it’s sickle, I made its movements slow.

【Dullness】 can be made for 100LP so I check if I can 【Grant】 it to Guardian.

Granting a skill that would slow an enemy down to a fast opponent would require a lot of LP, but with slow enemies, it shouldn’t take that much.

This time it’s 300 LP. Along with 【Create】 I had no problem granting it, so I immediately moved into action. The walking speed of about Shud……Shud changed to Shud………………Shud.

「He became slower, did you do something?」

「I granted it dullness.」

「Nice!」

「I only made it slower, it’s not like it became weaker. And he is also trying to reach houses, ignoring us.」

We can’t have him attacking buildings with that sword.

「How about focusing our attacks on the same spot?」

「Let’s try it.」

Following Luna-san’s suggestion, I decided to aim for Guardian’s right foot. I tried 【Ice Needle】, 【Stone Bullet】, and 【Ice Ball】 but saw no effect. 【Thunderbolt】 also proved to be lacking.

The movement stops for a moment, but it starts moving again as if nothing happened.

The required LP to destroy his 【Physical Resistance】 is high, so it’s hardly possible with the LP I currently possess.

「Really……What should we do.」

「Hey, look at that.」

A lone man is rushing to us from the direction Emma pointed. While swiftly slashing monsters that got in his way he quickly reached our position.

「General Stay?!」

「Stalgia, explain the situation.」

General listened to our explanation while threatening Guardian with his thin long sword.

「The peace stone made by Gaien was summoning the monsters. But a strong enemy would appear upon breaking it. In that situation, I decided to break it. As a result, he came out.」

I wonder if I’ll get scolded. But such worries of mine were absurd. General Stay pat me on the shoulder,

「You made the best decision. As expected from the one that caught my interest.」

He praised me. Exalted I reply with 「Yes!」 and reveal Guardian’s abilities.

「First of all, let’s try and see if the skills will work on him. I entrust support to you.」

He plunged at Guarding head-on. To be honest, I thought it was reckless. The opponent effortlessly swings down the greatsword at the general. But he sidesteps it inches away and uses that sword as a foothold to get closer to the guardian.

「HAIL GAIEN’S NAME!」

「I refuse. False heroes hold no value.」

Casually leaping off the greatsword he launches a jumping attack and stabs his swords into Guardian’s shoulder.

「GUOAH !?」

We couldn’t wound him at all, but the general easily cut off one of his arms. I’m not sure if the general aimed for a gap in the armor or just cut along with it. The only thing I can tell is that he is extraordinary.

Is it the effect of【Iron Cutting】skill? Or is it the power of another skill? Then, General Stay shouts.

「Nice, now it’s time for your bow skills to shine.」

For a moment I thought that he was saying that to me. But I didn’t have a bow in my hands.

Immediately after, an arrow flew from somewhere and making a direct hit on the flesh exposed from the cut erupted in an explosion.

I turn my head in the direction from which the arrow came. Lyrica-san, master archer, stood on the roof of the building, holding a bow with a smile.

「Listen well, Noir-kun. The essence of being an archer is one-sidedly attacking the opponent from the position where they can’t attack you.」

Why does it sound so mellow even though she is saying pretty trashy stuff? Her attack seems to have dealt serious damage to Guardian as he appeared noticeably weakened.

Seeing that as an opportunity, General slashed off another arm. Now Guardian can no longer hold that greatsword.

「Stalgia, you are next.」

「Noir-kun, follow my example and you’ll do fine~.」

「I’ll do it.」

I pulled out the magic bow and shot 【Explosive Arrow】aiming at the part where the flesh was visible. The hit deals considerable damage.

「Well done. But the opponent still has strength left, don’t drop your guard.」

Cornered Guardian was using the last bits of his strength, attempting trampling attacks.

「I’ll bait it, everyone, look for a chance.」

Emma applied wind magic’s buff to agility on herself and provoked Guardian. In order to provoke it, she kept idling until his legs almost grazed her, which gave me shivers.

Luna-san kept shooting around with her magic gun. Then, Guardian staggers.

「Hm. Looks like the section between neck and torso is vulnerable.」

Thanks to her I was able to decide on the spot to attack. The General gives me instructions.

「If you want to poke into a narrow area, you’d be better using a spear instead of a sword. You have one, don’t you?」

「I have one with a high penetration ability.」

「Then, I will throw you up there, aim at the throat.」

「Understood.」

The General linked hands and held them in front of him. It looks like he wants me to use that as a jump stand. With a bit of a run-up, I jump there.

「Go for it!」

The general slightly lowered his arms and then using a recoil, swung them up with a full force, throwing me up high. As the angle was just perfect I plunged at Guardian’s throat, without having to make any additional movements.

「OOOOOOOOOO!」

With a war cry that was not like me at all, I stabbed the spear at the center of his neck. I felt like I hit something hard, but I pressed further through brute strength.

Since there was also assistance from the skill, I successfully penetrated him with the spear.

Guardian slowly fell on his back.

After pulling out the spear I took a deep breath.

「Noir-saaaan.」

——There, Laura-san and Layla-san entered the square as well. Thank goodness they were safe as well.

「We defeated the ghouls. Or rather, that’s some amazing enemy you were fighting. Such a big sword……」

「That’s right. I thought I’d die there.」

「Oh my, how terrible. Thank you for your hard work.」

Laura-san gently consoles me, but the mellow mood suddenly gets shattered. Because level-headed general Stay shouted with an astonished expression.

「Stalgia, It’s still alive!」

A shadow falls upon us. Looking back, Guarding was towering over us like a mountain, with one of his legs raised.

Of course, I try to escape, but probably due to accumulated exhaustion, I trip and fall. In my current predicament, it’s extremely bad.

If I at least could get Laura-san away——When I look around, for some reason, Laura-san was holding guardian’s greatsword, wrapping her hands around it.

No, no, no……Eh? It should be too heavy to even lift, but she manages to properly swing it down.

「Just give up and die already.」

*THUN——* With a sound that I could hardly comprehend, Guardian’s head was easily separated from the body.

Looks like losing a brain would lead to an instant death after all, so this time it finally died. As everyone was at a loss for words, Laura-san put the greatsword on the ground and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

「Humans can do a lot when they put their minds to it.」

「……Such a feat is possible only for Laura-san.」

「That’s not true~.」

That’s absolutely true. Anyway, with this, we learned that those in possession of top-grade superhuman strength can compete even with such monsters.