CH 245

The next day. Leaving the village, I proceeded northeast.

The fifth floor is surrounded by land in the shape of a “C,” and the original route would have been to enter through a crevice in the south, circle around the lake clockwise, and exit through a rift to the sixth floor in the northeast. However, over the years, the Adventurers’ Guild has built a bridge to make the “C” into an “O,” and as a result, it is now possible to take a shortcut from the fourth floor to the sixth floor.

By building a village in the middle, they created an environment where adventurers who hunt on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors can hunt on a day trip. Therefore, the Fifth Floor Village is an important base in this dungeon.

I proceeded through the woods, checking my surroundings.

This side of the road is frequented by many people, and a path about two meters wide has been created. Thanks to this, it was easy to find.

But this shows how desolate the original route westward on the fifth floor was.

After walking along the path through the woods for a while, I saw a wooden bridge over a river more than 20 meters wide.

“Is this the bridge mentioned?” (Rook)

I thought it was a simple bridge, but I was a little surprised to see it was more solid than I had expected.

But with this, even if monsters roughly use it, it won’t break.

After crossing the bridge and arriving at the other side of the river, I walked along the road and saw a Rift between the trees that led to the sixth floor.

I checked my belongings again and made my final preparations.

According to information from the Adventurer’s Guild and other sources, from here on out the monster ranks would go up one more rank to B-rank.

In other words, there is a monster of the same rank as the Great Boar, which a bunch of C-rank adventurers and I were unable to defeat in a fair fight at Rankfurt.

The rank of a monster is only determined by the size of the magic stone in the monster’s body, so it does not mean that all B-rank monsters are equally strong. …I still think about it a bit when I remember the fight with the Great Boar.

Shaking my head, I took a step forward to steady myself.

“… Alright! Let’s go!” (Rook)

“Kyu!” (Shion)

When I passed through the rift, I found myself in a wasteland lined with dead trees and almost no grass on the ground, a stark contrast to the previous levels.

“The atmosphere is quite different…” (Rook)

The world had been a world centered on forests, but suddenly it was a wasteland… It felt like the world had changed.

And with this, there are not many places to hide.

“…Well, for now, I should start subjugating.” (Rook)

I decided to carefully search for monsters while deploying my [Magi Location].

I rummage through my pocket for the map I drew at the guild and open it.

Usually, the actual map is not the same as the other floors, there are no “forests” or “rivers” or anything that indicates the topography, but rather landmarks such as “sword rock” or “dead trees” are drawn on the map.

I had wondered about this map when I was transcribing it, but I think I may have finally understood what it meant. In short, the whole of the sixth floor was an unchanging wasteland, and I guess they had no choice but to draw in rocks and other landmarks that might be characteristic of the area to make a map.

“Then… maybe I should head for ‘Sword Rock’.” (Rook)

I decided to go to the nearest landmark and walked to the north side of the map.

I want to get a rough idea of the size of this floor by the time I get to the first landmark.

Depending on that time, …… I’ll have a lot of things to rethink–

“There is one!” (Rook)

A monster on the other side of a small hill.

I still think it’s a real cheat to know even when you can’t see. Without [Magi Location], no matter how many [Turn Undead] I had, my hunt in this dungeon would not have been successful. Because the essence of my [Turn Undead] hunting is “not to be noticed by the enemy”.

Even if it is difficult to win at the moment, I will secretly approach the opponent without being seen and subjugate them with a single fire of [Turn Undead]. The opponent will not even realize that it is dead…

I mean, my thinking is totally that of an Assassin! If I smile too much, I’ll look like a villain…

With these thoughts in mind, I carefully climbed up the dry, grassless hill, trying not to make a sound.

Slowly, slowly, step by step.

Sweat beads on my forehead.

It would be dangerous if a monster noticed us and attacked us here.

I’d like to think that I won’t be killed with a single blow, but if I’m hasty and can’t use my [Turn Undead] properly during the battle, it will be the end. That’s how much risk I’m taking here.

“…” (Rook)

I crawled on my belly, poked my face out of the top of the hill, and looked over to the other side.

There was a reddish-black skeleton.

His whole body was red, as if wet with blood. If his helmet, shield, and armor were reddish-black, even his bones were reddish-black.

“That’s very creepy…” (Rook)

Its name is Blood Knight. It is an undead-type monster, a B-rank. It is the only B-rank monster that appears on the sixth floor, and the only other monsters that appear are slimes.

As I can tell from the name, it is a knight-type monster that attacks with a sword. In other words, it is a kind of skeleton I am super compatible with. However, that is why they are scary. If it is strong enough to fight in a straightforward manner, it simply means that it has a high physical ability.

Well… I’ll get started.

Pull out magic power from the pit of my stomach and send it to my right hand.

“[Turn Undead].” (Rook)

I discard the chant and activate the magic with just the invocation phrase.

However, nothing happens but the magic power is drained. A failure.

“[Turn Undead].” (Rook)

[Turn Undead] is used again.

But it fails.

“[Turn Undead].” (Rook)

After another try! [Turn Undead], which I released while wishing for the next time to work, activates while creating a circle of white light and takes the Blood Knight to another world.

The Blood Knight crumpled to the ground as if the strings of a puppet had been broken.

“I won……” (Rook)

I slide down the hill, staring at the crumpled Blood Knight and muttering to myself.

Somehow, like this… I feel deeply moved and shocked.

Now that I think about it, I think the first reason I clearly wanted to become stronger was because of the similarly B-ranked Great Boar.

I was completely outmatched by the Great Boa, and I was able to get through it successfully with the Paralyzing Knife that I happened to have with me, but I realized that I could be attacked by such an unbelievable monster just by living a normal life in town, and I felt the need to become stronger. I was shaken by the fact that without that Paralyzing Knife, I would have taken tremendous damage

That’s why I’m deeply moved to be able to easily defeat a B-rank monster like this.

“Well, it’s all thanks to the [Turn Undead].” (Rook)

Yes. Without Turn Undead, I would not have been able to beat Blood Knight.

I am still no match for the Great Boar.

“ Okay! I’m going to try to beat Blood Knight without [Turn Undead]!” (Rook)

“Kyu!” (Shion)

Yes, with renewed determination, I stripped away the Blood Knight’s remains.

I don’t know if it’s a good thing from assassination to scavenging corpses… But I don’t care, though I feel like my occupation is becoming more and more like a bandit.

“The helmet can’t be recovered because it won’t fit in the magic bag… and the armor can’t either. …The sword is broken! It says it may carry a lower-grade potion, but it doesn’t have one. …This guy doesn’t have a damn thing!” (Rook)

“Kyu!” (Shion)

Never mind.