CH 53

[GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!]

The deafening screams of the Undead echoed through the dungeon.

As one would expect from the Boss of one of the , the special effects shown from their defeat are quite elaborate.

As I breathed a sigh of relief while watching the lengthy cutscene of the ’s destruction, I noticed the complicated expression on Radd’s face.

As our eyes met, Radd spoke as if to make excuses.

[No, it’s just, I had understood this when I heard the plan. Seeing all of it happen though makes the fight kinda disappointing.]

[You defeated someone you couldn’t beat in a proper fight. You should be proud of yourself.]

Radd still doesn’t seem to be satisfied, but this was still a great victory.

There aren’t many dramatic victories like this, but petrification can decide a match if it works just once, being silenced can make you do almost nothing, and the first one of the Ruin Bosses has a very weak resistance to begin with, so it’s easy to make a perfect match.

Besides, even this Sacred Ash Stun Lock isn’t as easy as it sounds.

In fact, in the game, if an NPC for some reason interrupted another NPCs action and lost their footing, it was often the case that the party was unable to regain their footing and end up getting wiped out.

[Of course, well, I’m aware of that. It’s just, I think anyone would be able to do this even if it’s not me……]

[That’s not the case. Not many people can act without being intimidated by the Elder Lich, and not many people would believe in my ridiculous plans.]

When I said this, Radd’s eyes widened a bit……

[W- Well, I guess I’ll just be happy if you go that far, Old man.]

He looked somewhat unsettled as he said this and turned his head away.

I don’t know whether he’s being honest or cynical, but that’s not the point right now.

[That aside, it’s now time for the item we’re looking for.]

[Eh?]

As Radd was looking at me like an idiot, I pointed to the back of the room.

[————-Did you forget? We came here to get an item, remember?]

The Bosses of the always drop Unique Items when defeated.

The , which is one of the top-ranked Bosses among the Ruin Bosses, drops two types of equipment, both of which are among the most powerful in the game.

Whether it’s a rod or a diadem……

Depending on which of the two drops, it will have an impact on the strategy for the future……

[Oh……]

At that moment, the completely dissipated, and in its place, the equipment rolled off with a clang.

Dropping in the place was the diadem the wore just a few moments ago…… and their rod.

[————-Two drops?]

Contrary to my expectations, two end-game class equipment fell into our hands at the same time.

※　※　※

(I never thought we would get both!)

Since only one of the items dropped by the Bosses could be obtained in the game, players sometimes had to go through the arduous process of defeating the Boss repeatedly to carefully select the item drop.

However, defeating a Boss once and then defeating it again for the item lottery was such a stressful factor that even the strategy boards complained about it, and in this world, there was no way for me to just save-reload the game.

I don’t know why I was able to get these two items, but since both of them were originally owned by the , the world may have corrected this situation by stating that it was wrong that only one of its items could drop.

Anyway, this is a happy miscalculation.

————-A diadem that contains the mysteries of an Undead Sorcerer, .

————-A rod of hellfire that consumes everything in its path, .

Both of them are Unique Items with tremendous effects that live up to their exaggerated names.

Since we’ve obtained both of these, I could call this dungeon attack a great success.

I picked up the equipment with a relieved look on my face and immediately threw them into my inventory.

[Nii-san!]

Thereupon, Resilia let out a warning shout.

Upon her voice, I looked up too and turned my gaze in the direction where Resilia was looking.

[T- The wall is……]

The wall at the back of the room, which should have been a dead end, was moving with a loud noise.

The wall continued descending, seemingly being sucked into the ground with a roar, and by the time the sound subsided, the true deepest part of the dungeon that had opened up behind it was exposed.

[Urph……]

The room, which existed as if it was hidden, was filled with deep darkness.

The presence of darkness was so visible that Mana involuntarily pressed down on her mouth.

And then……

In the center of that dark room was a pitch-black statue that seemed to be simmering with boundless malice.

[O- Old man……]

[Yeah. That is the .]

That is the mark of the resurrection of the Evil Deity , who wants to take over the world for themself.

The first time we saw the goal of the Adventurers of this world, we stood still for a moment.

But then, light suddenly filled the back room.

[W- What is it this time!?]

Radd screams.

In front of the confused Radd and the others, the light converged to a humanoid form.

[That is……]

Radd’s shuddering voice echoed.

When the light subsided, a translucent female being floated in front of us.

She had no hostile or malicious intent toward us.

She just gazed at us and smiled.

However, I could understand Radd’s surprise.

————-The female being before us was just too beautiful.

She had golden eyes filled with deep compassion and thoughtfulness, a nose bridge that wasn’t possible for a human.

Her golden hair, luxurious and lustrous, and the ideal curves of her ears peeking out from it.

And then, there’s her modest, yet somehow seductive, well-shaped lips.

[The …… Feenares.]

A name that no one is supposed to know yet leaked out of my mouth.

No one, including the Goddess herself, seemed to hear my voice, or perhaps, even if my voice could reach their ears, I may have actually not spoken out any words.

And so, while everyone was mesmerized by the Goddess’ grandeur, unable to move……

《……I had been waiting.》

The Goddess’ tiny lips softly spun a sound.

《My dear Children of Light, I have been waiting for you for a long time.》

As if she met someone she cared about once again, she smiled and opened her arms, seemingly welcoming us.

《Come, now is the time to show your courage. Touch the statue that has stored up evil power. Dispel the darkness……》

The words she spun shook our eardrums with a majestic resonance.

As if guided by her words, I looked at the statue filled with malice that sits in the room filled with darkness.

————-This is the Main Story of .

The conquest of the doesn’t end with the defeat of the Boss.

It’s completed when one of the party members touches the at the deepest level and destroys it.

Destroying the will allow Feenares to regain control of this place and lower the power of the resurrected Evil Deity by one level.

In exchange, the world will be polluted by the evil miasma leaking from the , and the monsters will become one level stronger, but this is also necessary from a game strategy standpoint.

The stronger the enemies become, the more EXP they give you.

Ironically, in order to gain the power to overcome the Evil Deity, the main cause for everything, the evil power released by the Evil Deity is necessary.

However, we must be careful when we destroy the statues and the members who touch them.

When the statue is destroyed, the Goddess will give you abilities as a “reward” according to the dungeon you have conquered, but only the person who “touches” the statue will receive the benefits.

The reward should be an all-around increase in attribute aptitudes and ability values, and in the case of this dungeon, as I recall, the “MND” stat is increased.

The value is related to Recovery Magic and MDEF.

If I were to raise any one of them, it would of course be……

[Re…… Old man.]

I was called out by a voice that sounded nervous, and I came to my senses.

I turned around and saw Radd standing there with a somewhat awkward look on his face.

[Is this really alright?]

I didn’t bother asking what he meant.

With what goes next after the Boss is defeated already determined in advance before we even entered the dungeon, everyone agreed with what’s next.

[Yeah. I’ll leave it to you.]

I nodded, and looking apologetic, Radd looked back at his comrades before walking forward.

[L- Let’s do this.]

Radd called out in a slightly trembling voice.

Thereupon, his comrades naturally gathered around him.

Seeing our actions, the Goddess watched us with gentle eyes and then……

《It seemed like you have already decided. Come, show your courage and touch this statue. With this, one more plot of the Evil Deity will be thwarted…… Eh? Why are you stopping and taking out an item? I- I’m glad you feel that way, but you need not mind me. In the first place, this body doesn’t hold any substance, so I don’t need offerings or anything like that. Rather than that, you know? Quickly touch the statue…… Eh? Ahhh! Looking closely, isn’t that a !? Y- You can’t! If you use that by mistake, that item brings you back at the dungeon entrance! You’ve come all this way, and doing that would make it all for nothing! Hah! Q- Quickly put it away! Ah, could it be that you got afraid of this room? I- It’s alright, you know? It’s a little dark, but the darker it is, the more it uplifts the mood. It’s dark in a good, sophisticated way, and the black stuff doesn’t have an immediate effect on a person’s body! C- Come on, it’s not scary, okay? It’s not scary. Ah, wait! The guy in black over there! Why are you waving your hand like you’re saying “bye bye”!? This isn’t the time for bye byes! Heck, nothing even started yet! Rather, this is when…… Ahh, you can’t! Stop right th———-》

And thus, after successfully defeating the Boss and obtaining the items, we repatriated from the dungeon with an Escape Item.

Our first exploration of the ended with great success.