CH. 145: Dungeon's Wrath

(It's midnight, my love.)

Klyscha's reminder urged me out of bed. I woke up Shiori snuggled in my chest and then everyone. Rubbing their eyes, the lovely women wore their equipment, leaving Nao wiping her glasses.

"Asahi-kun, I will stay here with Ai-chan."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, enjoy your time with them."

I pecked her lips and rubbed her head. "Alright."

Saeko caressed her katana and slid it back into the sheath. Rini locked her gauntlets and fixed the frilly white headband on her hair. Rika grinned, tapping the cool sniper on her shoulder.

"Time to pop some heads."

I handed the anti-fog specs to everyone, which they wore with a quizzical expression. The black-rimmed glasses made Grayfia stand out with her cold demeanor.

Without a word from me, Klyscha teleported us.

While every girl observed their surroundings, Yuriko knocked on the wall. "It's like an ancient cave."

The wall suddenly swelled a little, and then an imp's head peeked out. Yuriko stepped back and shot a rock bullet. The earthen shards crushed the monster into a bloody pulp.

"Here too."

"Here as well."

Saeko and Shiori waited patiently before their respective walls, spawn-camping the poor imps. The moment they showed up, a flash streaked and their heads flew.

How cruel.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack* *Crack…*

The monster started popping out everywhere. Add to the mist here, any normal adventurer would be sitting ducks for these chumpy imps.

"My Lord, shall I freeze everything?" Grayfia requested something absurd with a straight face.

"Please don't. Let the girls gain more experience."

She isn't added to the partner's list yet. Anyone killed by her will bring no benefit. Talking about benefit; everyone here could flatten armies of weaklings on their own. The undead for us and the angel mobs for Grayfia.

Saeko and Shiori chased the imps around; Rini tossed them everywhere; Saya's flames left no ashes; Yuriko flattened them; Aimi's figure blurred everywhere, leaving a trail of blood in her wake; Rika guffawed as she exploded the imps' heads with her sniper bullet while using her telekinesis to push any incoming imp. Only Nee-san glanced everywhere, looking to heal someone with her magic. Sorry, Nee-san, please stay useless, so I can spoil you more!

I hadn't picked a single weapon and the girls already bathed the caves in blood. The dungeon stopped spawning more monsters, knowing it can't take us down with this floor's monsters.

Rini approached, trampling on Imp's corpses. "Asahi Onii-san, how did I do?"

I pinched her squishy cheeks. "You broke through every record of cuteness."

"Uh? Ehehe."

"Girls, pull out the magic stones in the monster's chest."

"Wait, all of them?" Shiori raised her voice, her body tensed.

"Yes."

"Urgh…"

Shiori hated labor work, huh. Then again, she rebelled against her father once for this reason. The siblings didn't come off as someone willing to throw away their family, yet they haven't asked me about their father.

Weird.

I shrugged off the topic for now and checked my XP bar. Just seventeen more million!

Satisfied, I led the group to the next level. Five monsters popped at the entrance, almost as tall as me. Standing on two short thick, short legs, its front limbs ending with deadly claws. Its entire body wrapped in scales, and a helmet on its head, this monster very much looked like an armadillo. All of them tucked their head and curled into a ball, rolling at us.

*Kacha*

Rika's bullet shattered one's defense, leaving it twitching on the floor. We scattered from their line of attack and regrouped. Goddamn monsters trying to imitate truck-kun in the dungeon.

Rika shot down another one. Saya's first scorched one. Not giving others a chance to act, I curled my fist and executed a perfect uppercut. The rolling ball came to a sudden halt, its scales shattered from the impact. The armadillo bore the full brunt of my attack and shot toward the ceiling. Its bloody body fell back.

—You earned 100 XP from killing [Level 5 Hard Armored]

The Hard Armored name perfectly matched this thing.

"My Lord, what are you…?"

"The guy God needs to save the world."

Oops, that sounded like trash isekai protagonist.

"Are you seriously going to meet him?"

"Yep."

"Which god?" Nee-san asked, caressing my bruised knuckles. "Heal my Aa-kun."

A golden glow enveloped my hands, tickling the skin and sealing the red marks.

"The sole god mentioned in the Bible, he is very much alive in Grayfia's world."

"What?!" Shiori gaped.

Saeko engaged the Armadillo slashing its claws. She dodged a flurry of attacks, ducked, and poked its eyes. The monster went ham, slashing blindly. Saeko easily jabbed the white, undefended flesh on its stomach.

*Ding!* Another notification popped.

Her adaptability was high. Yoko, how would she fare in the dungeon? It would be fun to see her skills for once.

Shiori pinched my sleeves. "Answer me, please."

"You can ask my maid if you don't believe it. God, Angel, Devil, and Dragons—the majority of the mythological beings exist in her world."

'That's so friggin' cool," Yuriko muttered and summoned a giant spike to pierce the armadillo. "I should have chosen that world."

"Mama."

Yuriko smiled at Saya and stroked her cheeks. "I understand. If Dear didn't take us there, it only means we aren't strong enough to survive there or some other reason." She turned to me, her grin stretching ear to ear. "After all, Dear will never miss the chance to fuck an angel."

Angel… Gabriel's face flashed in my memories. No man could deny the temptation to push her down.

Ignoring Saya and piercing gaze, I shook my head. "You misunderstand me. I already have so many angels with me, why would I seek more?"

Saya sighed. "I learned to never trust your sincere expression."

"Let's go down!"

"You horny bastard."

I unhooked my dagger and slashed diagonally. The blade bounced off the Hard Armored scale. This thing worked inefficiently without its skills. I should buy a new weapon, most preferably an S-Class. Activating the skill, I finished off the last monster. We secured the magic stones and advanced.

Amidst our chatter, no monster spawned around us. Something was amiss. The hot wind crawling into the corners made me twitchy. This floor wasn't this hot when we came here last time.

*Rumble*

The entire floor shook.

My bad premonition grew and my heart skipped a beat. A spark rushed through me; something bad will happen.

*Ding!*

[—You learned a new skill 'Instinct']

Shizuka clenched my arm, her face stricken with horror. "Aa-kun!"

"Onii-san!"

Both my sisters shouted at the same time.

I wrapped my arm around Shizuka and stepped aside. The ground leaped as if aiming to crush me into the ceilings. The walls twisted and charged at me. I kicked the wall and recoiled back. Rini moved in and pulverized the stone wall.

The dungeon wanted to eliminate me…