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Re:Monster - Volume 5 - Chapter 27




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Chapter 27: Day 231 ~ 235

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Day 231

In the morning I woke up and heard the situation from the Avenger.

Of course we are talking about the supporting characters he met in his [History of the Legendary Brave Man] - [Shining Path of the Brave Fighting]: [Witch of Mystic Flame] and the [Merciful Maiden]. What happened and who they are, in order to understand the situation.

To summarize, according to his story he, Rusty Iron Knight, Scarface, along together with other comrades, wandered through the Sternbild Kingdom, while exercising, they came upon a village on the border between the Sternbild Kingdom and the Kirika Empire.

They weren't thinking about going into it at first, but after hearing about the good reputation of this village from traveling merchants in the Kirika Empire, well-known for their creation of dairy products, Rusty Iron Knight said: "Let's go take a look ya?", "For souvenirs, you know, mainly for that, we're close by anyway." thus resulted in a small change of plans.

Thus, it was decided that they wanted to buy some souvenirs and quickly entered.

But on the way to the village, he saw some fearful looks from the locals, a large number of wounded, and the traces of destruction, but that's only what they saw from a distance.

Worried about the situation in the village, they left Scarface, as well as obviously recognizable representatives of non-human race team members outside of the village in order to reduce stress, and so only the humans entered the village.

In contrast to their expectation they passed unhindered to the village, but when they tried to find out what had happened, people in a hurry run as soon as they tried to approach them.

What is the reason for their failure, they were able to realize it after when looked at each other's faces.

Avenger and Rusty Iron Knight are not ordinary citizens. They're people belonging to the military, and presumed dead during the expedition in the great forest.

But if the fact that they had survived has come to light, that would cause a lot of problems. Thus when they head out, they had to hide their identity with [Mask of the angry demon].

The village saw Avenger and company wearing a mask (which had became a habit), the company is viewed as approaching armed men in masks, even if they haven't done anything to this village, this reaction is understandable.

When they realized that the masked men, from the standpoint of ordinary people will not provide the individual any sense of security, it was too late.

I unintentionally thought "Are you stupid?", but it was something that could be remedied ,it was decided next time they need to fix this. But lets get back to talking.

From a remote distance, the villagers looked out from the shadows, none dared to approach.

But this was not a problem.

But among them those that aimed at them with looks of fear and rage had a strong look as if they were a longtime nemesis.

In addition, in the shadow of buildings there were men hiding, armed with clubs and hoes. It's a physical ambush.

Even though it's something unusual for a countryside village, but I guess it happens. Avenger was confident about this.

If they continue this standoff, nothing will happen, and if they are attacked, that will only create more problem.

Avenger and company took off their masks and hid their weapons, thus showing they mean no harm to anyone.

All they wanted is to hear the situation from the local head of the village, sat down right there on the spot.

Thus, local people have approached gingerly with furrowed eyebrows, and even led them to the house of the village head.

A gang of robbers known as [Angry Bear of the Fiery Fields].

That is the group responsible for the situation in the village.

A brown bear beast-man armed with a huge double-sided ax, mounted on a horse with luminous red hooves and mane [Luminescent Horse], leader of the [Angry Bear of the Fiery Fields], together with his gang attacked the village a few days ago.

The local men banded together and were able to fight back, and even caught a few criminals.

That was quite amazing. But unfortunately, their defense broke, and several bandits managed to break through and some young girls were abducted.

After decided that there will only be more victims, and this is turning into a standstill, they took the village girls, and the gangsters made their demands: "If ya want them back unharmed, give us gold, if you give then we'll give ya the girls, but if ya gonna call for backup, we will not be able to guarantee their safety," after that they disappeared.

After that, in order to avoid the undead, they had a local funeral of the victims, including the criminals. Then they proceeded to rebuild destroyed homes, after that they have a talk on their course of action.

In small villages like this one, all the inhabitants treat each other as a family.

Since childhood, they grew up together, spent days helping each other.

Thus the residents have decided to give the ransom and get girls.

However, the amount requested by the bandits was large. Given the need to repair the village, thinking about the future of the village, it's not an amount that can be given so easily.

It may sound inhumane, but for the sake of a few girls consequently leaving 100 people in the village in poverty is very problematic. Even so, they are able to collect the required amount, and the day came when it was necessary to give the ransom.

The bandit leader's designated time was in the evening, and the appointed time is coming swiftly. Over time, the mental state of the village was hardly calm and in many ways irritated, at the moment came along Avenger and the company.

Due to their bad timing, they were confused with the bandits attacked the village, causing this reaction. The mask didn't contribute much to their hatred.

Well, a lot of things happened, given that his native village was destroyed in a similar fashion, Avenger had a great degree of hate towards these robbers who go about destroying villages. Because of that, he charged almost nothing for the robber extermination.

Only in this case, the other comrades are not involved.

Because Avenger took this mission personally. If Rusty Iron Knight and other comrades participated, that amount would not be enough.

This was not something expected by the village, because the elders and the people bowed to him in a deep bow.

Thus, for the mission to eliminate the bandits, almost all 10 bandits sent forth to collect the ransom were immediately slain by the Avenger before they had the chance to escape.

But due to the fact that the village girls were not with them, in order to find the place where they were kept, a couple of survivors were interrogated by Parabellum, and they spilled everything.

Cleverly acquiring information and getting rid of the remaining bandits, Avenger left the protection of the village to Rusty Iron Knight and company. he alone departed from the village.

At the time of his departure, the sun had set and it was a cloudy night, nobody saw him. He had a light source, but in order to ambush, he couldn't use it. But there was plenty of night time training, and possessing outstanding abilities to detect the enemy, the Avenger could move without any problems even in the dark.

On the contrary, this darkness became a good tool for eliminating undetected, and the bandits had a banquet in their camp, in the clearing of the woods, led by bear beastman. A simple task to wait for the right moment, ensure the safety of village girls, and slaying the bandits with a swift strike. That was the plan.

But on the spot where the bandit's camp was, a prominent pillar of flame rose furiously. Wondering what happened, and how the mage could hide its presence, he hurried to the place. But when he arrived there, it was all over.

Upon arrival, the Avenger saw the scene. The base of the "Angry Bear of Fiery Fields", looked like a field of burning torches and there were glowing corpses of bandits and their horses.

Laying nearby were the blurred strokes of mutilated bandit corpses, sprawled like frogs. Apparently they were attacked just before the banquet, for they laid next to the remains of cooked food, broken bottles of booze, the contents of which have not yet been soak into the ground, broken long swords, and heavily armored breastplates shells now bent, as well as other damaged equipment.

There was the strong smell of blood, with black smoke rising from wooden tents. The scattered bodies stink terribly from the smell of burning manure. There are still survivors among the bandits, but they either could not move or twitch in their death throes. He couldn't tell how someone cut the whole gang of robbers.

Trying to figure out what happened, in a slightly remote location, he found the village girls in torn clothes, as well as the 2 women in clearly expensive armors. Judging by the circumstances, the 2 beauties have saved the village girls. In order to know more details about this, Avenger called out towards the duo.

It was the meeting of the Avenger with his subsidiary characters Witch of Mystic Flame and Merciful Maiden.

To be attacked during their first meeting must be quite the impression in my opinion, but probably looking at Avenger, the [Witch of Mystic Flame] and [Merciful Maiden] thought he was one of the men who went to collect money from the village.

Before they attack him, the duo asked the village women about him, who responded, "We do not know about that man."

Thus the battle began because of a misunderstanding. The Avenger had some difficulties against this pair, but was able to get out of the battle victorious flawlessly.

If he fought against the duo, who have a high degree of cooperation, as his previous self he would have likely lost.

But instead of relying on strong magical items and training in armor, that limited the excessive force his Divine Protection can provide and fighting techniques Arts, in contrast to his former self whom relied on brute force, he became a master of weapons.

These results led him to victory.

After restraining the duo by defeating them, after which he took their weapons, and bonded the stunned duo with ropes, he proceed to listen to the details of the village girls.

The village girls panicked from the fact that the couple lost, but in the end everyone calmed down somehow , he ordered them to return to the place where the couple staged a massacre.

The village girls obeyed this order, began to collect more useful thing left by the gang of robbers, and the carcasses are still burning with flames.

After finishing the necessary deeds, they woke up the duo, and with the village girls, explained the situation to them.

Waking couple noticed that they were tied, but after understanding the situation, they didn't became mad.

As they realized that they were wrong to considere Avenger a robber, as compensation the duo decided to spend some time to work for the Avenger.

In general, that was the story. In my opinion, it sounded like a story I heard of before, well whatever as long as its convenient. This is more than just the fate of similar history.

But since their work is only so so, and Avenger's privileges alone isn't enough to accept this offer, it was placed on hold. They also had a bit of damage, but that was dealt with thru alchemist recovery medicine. There's also an abundance of goods from the bandits, but only a little profit.

Thus, there's no reason to oppose.

I certainly think it would be all right, since they are Avenger's side characters, they'll likely help in the future. But there are some things I wouldn't know without talking to them directly. Even though the information is directly from an majorly involved person, but you can't fully trust second hand information

Thus, I had an interview with them via transmitter, and judging from the results, I didn't see particular problems, and gave my approval.

Henceforth, they are temporary companions that will be training alongside Avenger. They will work in accordance to their abilities. alongside negotiations and the collection of information, the entire day was spent.

It's just that the booze in the Labyrinth City Radha Lo Dara was too delicious, so after the collection of information I got drunk.

Yes, there's no choice. There's no other way.

Day 232

There exists a district within the Labyrinth City Radha Lo Dara, known as the 'Yatai Street'. The entire street is lined with food stands, selling snacks such as kushiyaki or Yakisoba. The variety of cuisine in the stalls allows one to enjoy the local culture and atmosphere.

ED Note: To imagine the Yatai(屋台) street, just look for a festival scene in any anime, but no game stalls, located in a street instead of a shrine, and no riajuus to make you jealous. For the record, Kushiyaki are skewered meat, and Yakisoba are fried noodles. 

After a light workout at the training site (which anyone can use free of charge), Kanami-chan and I went there for lunch. Actually, since the stalls in the Yatai street use materials and monster drops harvested from the "Furemusu Blaze Dragon Mountains", the food was extremely delicious.

Thick cuts of meat are being grilled on an iron plate heated to a high temperature by burning coal beneath it. The smell that wafts from it would whet anyone's appetite.

The synergistic effect of smell and sound would naturally make anyone drool.

They also used fresh vegetables for wrapping up the meat. The peculiar sweetness of the vegetables complemented the taste of the meat.

Juicy rich meat and fresh vegetables, this combination is certainly the best.

The only thing that surpasses this, is of course alcohol.

The high alcoholic content in the strong sake makes it feel like you're burning your throat when you drink it down, but the taste is so delicious that if you drink it once, you will get addicted to it.

Ed Note: Previously, Google translations translated 火酒as "Fire water". Don't ask me how, but even if I directed translated it, it would ended up as "Fiery wine". But anyway, this can also mean "Strong Drink"/High alcahoilc content. Thus, I dubbed it as "Strong drink".

Ok, new update, I didn't know Fire water was an actual thing, Thanks for telling me about this Caudyr

Personally, it's even better than elven wine.

Well, it is more on the level of personal preference since the taste and concentration is different anyway.

I was walking around the area, enjoying the various cuisines they got to offer here. Although, while the cuisines here are delicious, I also have something I need to do.

Because the main customers in the Yatai streets are adventurers that have returned from the dungeon.

Adventurers often have a lot of information on the dungeon, something that I want to know about. When they arrive at Yatai street, the first place they often go to is the bar, where they unwind and relax after a long day of shedding blood and sweat. Sometimes, they might even accidentally mouth off information they don't usually disclose.

You can't normally find this kind of information. It's also possible to hear about it using [Wiretapping]. This kind of information is also more commonly found in taverns, where the flow of information is more abundant. Just like that, I gathered information along the way while enjoying the food in the food stalls, visiting various places, and returned to the hotel after nightfall.

In the evening, after doing various things with Kanami-chan, I was a little hungry, so we both ate the [Grief-Charybdis], [Aquarium Golem Ball] and the [Gemini Red Nuns]

ED Note: Anyone mind helping me rename the monsters after you peeps decided on an English name for them? These are my suggestions anyway.

Ability Learned: 【Great Whirlpool of Disastrous Waters】

Ability Learned: 【Wail of Sorrow】

Ability Learned: 【Effective Terrain: Water】

Ability Learned: 【Emergency Retreat】

Ability Learned: 【High Compression】

Ability Learned: 【Hard Sphere】

Ability Learned: 【Bright Red Arms of Boiling】

Ability Learned: 【Duplicate Existence】

Ability Learned: 【Reconstruct Existence】

They were all delicious, but the one that tasted the best would be the [Gemini Red Nuns - Yu Via]. Their hands in particular were the best. Its tender meat melted in your mouth, a little spice to make it a bit more tangy would have made it even better.

Since Kanami-chan also liked it, I promised to get more.

The only thing I have left is the internal organs of the [Shark-Head Bolt Wyrm]. But since I already had a lot of fun, I'll put that aside for now.

Day 233

I've decided to make a base in the Labyrinth City Radha Lo Dara.

I like it here, but that's only part of the reason. 

Originally, when I looked at the General Chamber of Commerce, I though about Parabellum's operation range, which is currently in the Sternbild Kingdom, I already though about setting up a base in another country so that we can hide there if anything happens.

ED Note: General Chamber of Commerce is the group with whom they conduct business I guess.

A very extreme case would be if the Sternbild Kingdom conspired with the surrounding countries to annihilate us. We aren't going to stay silent if they tried to disrupt our business. But sooner or later, we're going to succumb to the pressure.

However, if we were to expand our field of operation into more than one country, completely crushing us would take much more effort.

Even though we have the Tomboy Princess on our side, when it all comes down to it the Sternbild Kingdom alone will not be able to compete with all the surrounding nations. If this becomes reality, the Sternbild Kingdom will surely be ruined.

Within the kingdom, even if we factored in the First Queen, there will still be a shortage in authority. When you think about the benefit of the kingdom as a whole, betraying us would be the most feasible solution. There are problems in this world that can't be solved with brute force alone.

Well, this is just an extreme example, and it's almost impossible. However, similar problems might occur in the future, and it's best to take precaution.

Thus, after meeting with the General Chamber of Commerce, the company funded by Parabellum: Heart of the Serpent was founded.

But since Heart of the Serpent had only just been founded, we'll need a store to act as our base.

For staff members, I can use members of Parabellum I had just contacted through the cuffs. I can also store the would-be merchandise inside my Item Box.

However, if there is no store, we can't even conduct business, let alone construct a base, which is our original purpose.

Thus, it was decided that we are going to a major real-estate company in the city to purchase a store.

But then, we'll need to negotiate.

I would like to conceal the relation between Heart of the Serpent and Parabellum as much as possible. I could do this by infecting somebody with a parasite and get them to negotiate. However, I could also instead simply use [Shapeshift] and [Metamorphosis] and transform myself into a completely different person altogether with ease.

As expected, doing business myself instead of infecting somebody with a parasitic clones is much more practical. I can even use my [Discount] ability to get 30% price reduction.

Using my abilities, I changed my appearance to an honest blond hair, blue-eyed young merchant.

I even worn clean, tidy clothes and put on modest ornaments and nothing too distasteful.

Looking into the mirror, I couldn't even recognize myself.

While Kanami-chan saw through me at a glance, the others fathomed at a glance, and didn't say anything about it.

Well, putting that aside, after giving myself a makeover, I decided that instead of going alone, I'll also make some escorts.

The fastest way would be to use [Intermediate Summoning: Fishman]. However, even though there are species of Gillman that live primarily on land, I'll pass that idea this time since such species are exceedingly rare.

Thus, I also made a coat with a black skeleton generated using [Lesser Summoning: Undead]. Usually I'd end it here, but this time I also spent some additional time tailoring the transformation.

Thus, the old butler with eye-catching white hair was born.

While he has a upright appearance and posture, and a proper suit, he gives off the atmosphere of a twisted, nefarious fellow.

But after trying to get this guy to follow me around, I decided that I had the right idea about this.

Riding an ordinary horse-drawn carriage instead of a Skeleton Centipede, we headed straight for the Chamber of Commerce.


The building is a very large 3-story structure, built with marble and wood probably harvested from the dungeon. 

A simple glance around the interior would allow anyone to easily deduce that it cost a lot of money to decorate the property. This reflected the financial power and the authority of the Chamber of Commerce.

You can easily spot a cowering, little merchant clad in livery at the reception. I wonder what's gotten him so shaken up?

Well, it doesn't matter. After talking with the clerk about my requirements for the plot, I was taken to the back room.

There was a cozy little sofa among some fine things, as well as tea and confectionery that was almost on par with some of the finest products the Tomboy Princess brought.

While I helped myself to the snacks, my negotiation partner came into the room.

He was a young man with round glasses, and he always has a smile stuck on his face.

Honest, but also suspicious, we proceeded to talk *Munch Munch.

ED Note:サクサク. If anyone has a better interpretation, be my guest. I tried searching, but it's either a chewing sound effect, or it means "crispy". My guess is that he was still eating sweets during the negotiation. Ok, new update: サクサク also means skillfully proceeding/doing something, found that out when i was working on 235, so yea, another possible interpretation for this line. so it could also mean we smoothly began the negotiation. 

I asked about the condition of the store.

It seems like there are a total of 3 dungeons that are roughly the same distance away from the Labyrinth City.

There are 2 stores, and of course the larger one is preferred.

When the 3 dungeons are connected with a line, it almost forms an equilateral triangle. So I hoped that there was some property at the center of this triangle. However, the location is a popular place, and there is a variety of facilities such as accommodation facilities and cash exchange offices.

There are almost no good properties left, but there are some left overs. The left over property was a problematic one though, or so I was told.

When I asked for details, it seems like there was a famous structure that had a lot of drop items and funds invested into its construction.

It's almost located at the dead center of the triangle, however if someone were to classify the structure, it would be building with an industrial type basement with some ground stories.

A 5 meter tall and 50 centimeter thick wall surrounds the house, making the square with walls 80 meter long on each side. This property will be suitable to double as a base, which is one of our original purposes.

ED Note: In case anyone is confused by my wording, the total size of the property is 80m x 80m, with the walls surrounding it at the perimeter. Ed Zak: added some words, which should make it less confusing. Also on the note, Minokichi will be showing his horns over the wall, and he will be picking over it when he rides his bear. lol.

All we need to do is to submit the exact portion of the property we want as well as to pay the transaction fees to the headquarters located in the capital, and the property will be ours. In addition to a store, the property is perfect for our purposes.

However, a few months ago a large group of people took resident in the structure illegally. 

If they were just thugs or homeless folks the problem would have been easily solved. However, it seems they aren't the well-behaved kind. They were adventurers who specialized in illegal transactions and businesses hidden from public.

ED Note:Took me a bit to identify what the original term "裏稼業" meant. It seems it means businesses in the parallel market that are usually hidden from public. aka: black market.

The company tried to get them to leave of course, several times now. However, it seems like all of their attempts failed. Since there was an influential person mixed in the bunch, it made the whole issue even more troublesome.

After that I asked them to continue with the negotiation of course. This is no reason to miss out on such a good piece of property. Having this kind of back story makes it even better since that means I can buy good property at low prices.

After that, the young man left and the negotiator changed to a middle aged man who was a chairman of the local [Chamber of Commerce]. After making the final negotiation directly with the old man, we decided to finalize the transaction and purchase the property.

Ed Zak: I think that a Chamber of Commerce is a general name for institutions that are responsible for said commerce in each territory, be it country like a Kingdom or Empire or a Dungeon City, hence added local to this name.

Not only did we settle on a cheap price, but we also made a deal that if we managed to chase the illegal residents out of the property, he would also renovate the structure for us for a cheap price.

Well well, it was a really good deal.

Now then, why not take a detour before I head back?

A day after that, the dozens of people illegally staying in that house suddenly disappeared. Apparently, a rival firm sent them there. Now that I understand the situation, I guess this sort of thing happens, oh well, I think I also have a few things planned...

I didn't secure any new abilities, but the drops I got off them makes this encounter quite fortunate.

Day 234

Yesterday, after collecting the desired information, we went shopping/hunting for magic items that would help reduce the terrain effect damage caused by the intense heat of the volcano. Because in the morning, we will venture forth to challenge the [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain] dungeon, the main objective of our trip.

The dungeon is located in a remote region about 30 minutes away from the city by horse carriage. Unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to admire it's majesty today due to bad weather.

Glowing red lava spews forth, bubbling out of the ground everywhere even during the night. Lightning bolts crackle constantly within the thick black clouds. First day of the challenge looks like quite a sloppy day, but I guess it's inevitable...

Leaving the Labyrinth City Radha Lo Lara on the Skeleton Centipede, kicking up snow on the way, we left behind a trail as we moved towards our target.

I think about 10 minutes have passed by now.

Chatting on the way, we finally arrived at the border zone of the barrier that surrounds the [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain] dungeon.

As mentioned in the information gathered, the transition can be recognized at a glance. The silvery white world that looked like a painting was suddenly peeled off, revealing bare rocks and a barren waste land.

No snow piled up in here unlike outside in the wilderness. With the boundaries this clearly divided up, if anyone wandered in here by mistake, they'd have to be a complete idiot. Even the climate is completely different, the previous freezing cold disappeared, and now I'm sweating all over due to the heat and humidity.

While enjoying one of the wonders of the world, we entered into the border zone and have officially arrived at the [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain].

The moment we entered the mountains, the temperature spiked. Temperature increased so drastically, it feels like I'm right next to a fire.

Moisture began to escape from my mouth, and breathing turned difficult. Slowly, my body began to feel like it was gradually being burned.

This must be the terrain effect damage.

If nothing is done about this, your physical strength will begin to diminish until death is imminent. 

The main cause of this damage is all around us. No doubt it's because of the heat radiating from the lava. My clone that's currently enveloping the Skeleton Centipede] is slowly being roasted into a crisp by the geothermal heat. This is no laughing matter.

ED Note:馬鹿 not only means idiot, but also trivial matter.

If you don't react to this accordingly, you'll be nicely cooked.

As expected from a [God] class dungeon.

ED Note: I think he means the temperature in the dungeon is just right for cooking meatloafs/adventurers :P...

By the time you encounter a dungeon monster, you would already be shaved of both strength and motivation.

If we didn't collect information and prepare before, Irofu-chan, who is vulnerable to heat, would have already thrown a mighty temper tantrum and say "LET'S GO BACK HOME, GO BACK HOME, GO BACK HOME, GO BACK HOME!"

Well, in this kind of temperature, apart from Minokichi-kun and I who have countermeasures against the heat, and apart from Asue-chan, everyone else would have wanted to return as well.

At any rate, I can activate [Fireproof Mucus Resistance] and [Complete Fire Resistance], almost completely negating the terrain effect on me. I still feel a little hot, but nothing serious.

Minokichi-kun's [Demigod of Fire's Blessing] nullifies the damage that the [Terrain Damage] would have normally dealt to him, even more it wasn't making him feeling uncomfortable; actually he is looking better here than usual.

While Asue-chan doesn't have any special abilities like us, however since [Earth Lord - Variant] often mine in areas such as volcanoes, her race has the highest base heat resistance among us all.

Give her a few heat resistant equipment, and she will be fine.

Since the rest didn't have any abilities or high heat resistance they'll have to use magic items. They wore [Ice-cold Underwear], [Cooling Long Cape], [Heat Proof Combat Boots], and used a magic potion [Cooling Liquid] that envelops their body in a thin liquid of mucus.

This seemed to substantially reduce the heat.

But even with all this, Irofu-chan still looks rather lifeless. She'll have no choice but to give it her best shot.

After finishing our preparations, we got off the Skeleton Centipede and only managed to advance a few meters before we were attacked. The attackers that suddenly jumped out of the ground are known as [Lava Dungeon Army Fish].

Freely swimming in lava and magma, this fish is a species of Armored Fish, reaching lengths of 1 meter and is clad in heavy armor composed of red hot magma. Even without its rush attack, it has fearsome destructive capabilities. Its armor is hard enough to deflect any half-hearted attack while also dealing damage itself. Furthermore, if dozens of them were killed, hundreds more will rush in. Within the outer layers of [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain], it's known as the most obnoxious monster.

We heard that about a third of the deaths in the early levels of Fire Dragon Mountain were caused by this monster.

Naturally we had a wonderful time.

Due to the fact there were 9 demons here, the usually abundant experience was distributed among us. But since they came by the dozens, they make leveling very efficient. Furthermore, they were also very tasty.

Yum, grilled fish is the best.

Ability learned: [Traverse Lava]

With this ability, I can now swim in lava. In addition, this ability can also be used in various other locations where there is no lava. I have to say, this is quite a good start.

Now then, in order to fill in the blanks of my mental map, why don't we travel in a clockwise direction along the [Border Area]?

Day 235

By default, there are no such things as [Safe Zones] within the [Flames of Fire Dragon Mountain].

Naturally there are the dungeon monsters relentlessly attacking you day and night, but there is also the ever-changing landscape of the mountains that you need to be occasionally wary of.

Just when you think you're on flat-lands where there is no lava nearby, it suddenly gushes out from right under your feet. Naturally, you also have to be cautious about the toxic volcanic fumes coming out of nowhere.

It seems to me that if you ever decide to take a rest while your guard is lowered in this place, you're as good as dead.

For adventurers that chose to challenge this place, even taking a rest is a challenging task. However, compared to them we have a much easier time since we can build a temporary base by changing the shape of the skeleton centipede. I wonder, can the other adventurers even take a rest in this place... After easily building our base Kanami-chan, who seemed very tired after the day was over, took her rest at ease while I stood guard overnight with my ability [Tireless].

ED Note:ゆっくりalso means at ease, not just slowly.

But I had to slaughter a large number of dungeon monsters who came to attack the camp on my own. Since it's for the sake of everyone, it can't be helped.

I'm not doing this just to fill my belly, that's not the situation here.

Anyway, after a good night's rest, Seiji-kun and Kugime-chan look healthy and in tip-top shape. Looks like it's possible to start conquering the dungeon in perfect condition.

I spent the entirety of yesterday filling my mental map, that went well.

However, things didn't go as smoothly as usual. The reason for this is due to the fact that the local monsters are far stronger than my clones. Thus, I instead summoned some Black Fomorians, infected them with my parasite clones, and sent them out to explore the area. Combining that with Kugime-chan's perception abilities, we covered 4/10ths of the site. In addition, we also found a few field bosses, so in that aspect I can say it went well.

However, the "Fire Dragon Mountain" was larger than expected. Due to constant battle with the local monsters, as well as the terrain itself, we only managed to finish our exploration along the border area in the late morning of today, which was outside of what I planned.

Putting that aside, after taking a lunch break, and exchanging our thoughts and experiences with fighting in the local area, we have decided that we will continue the conquest of this dungeon, and our current course of action will be to hunt down the dungeon bosses. 

The real conquest begins now.

[Job: Sentinel] and [Phased Radar Array] indicated the general direction of distant field bosses. Kugime-chan was able to identify a more detailed position of the boss with her abilities.

With this, it is now possible to walk straight towards our destination without getting lost.

We proceed without hesitation since we know we're taking the shortest path, however on our way we were attacked by a large horde of monsters who came flocking over.

Cloaked in black azure flames, an aggregation of skulls that floated freely in the air: the [Skull Legion of Cursed Flames].

Man-sized carnivorous butterflies that scatter strong hallucinogenic scales and phantom fire, while hunting their prey with sharp proboscis whilst hiding in the shadows: [Frey John's Killer Butterfly]

ED Note: If anyone has a better name "フレイジョン・キラーバタフライ", be my guest. Tried looking up who Frey John was, couldn't find any solid references. P.s. I changed tentacles to proboscis, since that's the proper name for the suckers of a butterfly. Ed Zak: maybe it is not about a man but about type of men? As in Frail John? As in Nutterfly that kills frail men?

Flying at high speed using wings of fire, performing kamikaze attacks by exploding in the blind spots of adventurers: [Explosive Bomb Bird].

ED Note: Yes I'm aware the Google translate said "Blaster Bombardment, but ブラスターボンバード is read as something like "Blasta Bomm bado" (Bomm bado does sound a bit like bombard), and バード means bird.

Preying on unsuspecting victims by acting as a puddle of lava, they generate volcanic gas and acidic fluids while bouncing with great speed: [Lavarick Great Slime].

Adapting to living in hot lava and magma, their main characteristics are the red hot blades they duel wield and flaming dorsal fins on their huge body: [Volcanic Crimson Lizard Lords].

We backed each other up while fending off the attackers, and proceeded smoothly.

However, these dungeon monsters are clearly much stronger than the monsters we previously encountered outside. If we didn't detect their presence in advance, this would have became a critical situation.

Smoothly proceeding forward, we arrived at our destination.

Countless columns of lava rose like tall trees crowding together, this is going to be a dreadful place to fight.

The countless giant columns of lava generate a lot of blind spots, and due to our delicate spacing, coordination with everyone else is going to be hard.

Moreover, there seems to be a slight indentation filled with accumulated toxic gases heavier than air where the pillar connects to the ground. Upon closer inspection, it seems like the gas is leaking out of cracks on the pillar.

On top of that, the lava pillars were extremely hot. Even if we've taken action against them, we'll still feel the extreme heat despite not taking damage. What's hot is hot I guess.

With a quick glance, we've determined that this is not a suitable battlefield for us and decided to lure him out to a remote location instead. But we were a little too late.

The field boss has already noticed our presence and is approaching here at high speed.

We could certainly retreat since we haven't entered deep into the forest of lava pillars, however I've determined it would be easier for us to fight here and thus formed ranks. Then, he appeared atop of the pillars, along with his underlings.

ED Note:Dunno if it's a male or female (yet), but currently, I'm calling it a he.

A muscular body covered in red pelts boasting a level of hardness higher than magic metal, four brawny arms thicker than an ace pitchers' with clubs forged with lava on each hand, six bustling golden eyes constantly staring at us, 6 lengthy tails flickering dexterously and sinuously, thick legs supporting his 5 meter body while trampling over the pillars, and strong toes that gripped firmly onto the scaffolding.

The name of the first field boss was [Volcanic Ape General], and this forest of volcanic lava pillars was his territory. The [Volcanic Ape General], leading a dozen of his kind that are about half his size and have 2 arms instead of 4, was emitting pressure from his statue. With his golden eyes observing our every move, he was ready to commence attack as soon as we shown any sign of weakness.

Around the Ape General were his [Volcanic Apes], all in their respective positions, awaiting orders from their herd leader.

As expected of a field boss of a [God] class dungeon, not only is he powerful on his own, he even has the capabilities to lead his own kind. He's going to be a very difficult opponent.

We didn't have an immediate confrontation, instead we had a stand off, a strange silence dominated the surrounding.

All that was heard was the noise of air jets, the sound of lava not unlike earth tremors and the howls of the dungeon monsters from a distance.

Amidst each other's breathing, there's only a slight metallic sound and the rustling of clothes.

This stand off only lasted a dozen seconds at most, and the first one to break it was the [Volcanic Ape General].

He started the fight with a roar of overwhelming power; cracks formed on the huge lava pillars around him. If he roared at close distance, it would even immobilize a dragon variant. It would naturally also be effective against us. We weren't immobilized, but that's not the problem. It's not something related to our physical body. It seems like our mental processing ability had slowed down.

Not about to miss this opening, the [Volcanic General Monkey] jumped up high. Swinging his four clubs at us with his brawny hands while falling, I determined that this is going to be a powerful attack.

Thus, I used [Gravity Manipulation] and suspended him in midair as soon as he was about to strike. At this moment, Minokichi-kun and the others have come to an understanding, and activated the full extent of their union attack, and unleashed the [Destructive strike - Annihilation Trigram of the 8 Demons].

ED Note: once again, if anyone has a better name, be my guest :合体攻撃【滅撃・八鬼殲陣】 Ed Zak: Taking Japan and Chinese correlation into account it makes roughly this [United Assault [Flashing/Extinguishing attack of 8 Demonic War Generals]], or more according to Chinese [United Assault [Extinguishing attack - 8 Wrights/Spirits Devastating Waves]]. Btw: 嵌合体 means chimera in Chinese.

The union attack [Destructive strike - Annihilation Trigram of the 8 Demons] bundles and fuses the mysterious powers of the eight demons and converts it into a black flash. The [Volcanic Ape General] who was floating in the air attempted to defend himself using his clubs but to no avail. The next moment all that was left of him was his head, spinning elegantly in the air.

The Union attack's destructive power not only killed the [Volcanic Ape General], but demolished countless lava columns and several unlucky [Volcanic Apes] without a trace, and even penetrated the black clouds in the sky, leaving behind a hole in the clouds.

Sunlight poured in from the hole, illuminating the trail of destruction.

Witnessing this scene, the remaining [Volcanic monkeys] froze in their positions, ceasing all movement.

Of course, we took the chance to close our distance while they stood there befuddled. Repeatedly using [Pressurized Thunder Cannon] from distance, or [Blazing Adamantine Paralysis Claw] to cut off the limbs, we began to hunt down the remnants using a variety of ways.

After the start of the battle, there is no escape for the monsters in the dungeon. It didn't even take us a few minutes to capture them all.

After all that, their corpses were safely stored using Item Box

[Dungeon Boss [Volcanic Monkey General] successfully removed]

[As a bonus for the elimination of the boss, a treasure box [The Fiery Ape General's Coffin] will be sent.]

It was a disappointing conclusion, however this is the result of our first field boss battle. It was our complete victory.

However, the eight demons are now suffering the after-effects of using the union, and are all exhausted.

Even the muscle idiot Minokichi-kun is now panting as he is lying down on the ground.

The one with the weakest body, the beansprout Seiji-kun is now half stunned on the ground. It seems that not even being roasted by the hot ground is going to make him move.

This was a test to see if we would need to do this with moderation the next time. I made a simple resting camp with a [Skeleton centipede] and brought everyone inside, as well as the huge treasure box that appeared, and decided to take a long rest that served as a treatment.

I was thinking about leaving the head of the [Volcanic Ape General for later, but the fragrance emitting from the meat being burnt by the geothermal heat is just too alluring.

A sound of hunger came from me though. Eating ripped off meat satiated my appetite.

[Ability learned: [Earth-Shaking Wrecking Staff]]

[Ability learned: [Herculean Strength]]

[Ability learned: [Body of Flames]]

My whole body was filled with strength and satisfaction. This was the best filling I ever felt.

I even might have just experienced a phenomenon where light shot out of my eyes and mouth.



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