LEFT BEHIND

Hajime and the group had finally made it to the 64th floor. It had been two weeks since Ivan's death.

And just like Ivan expected the Holy Church urged the students to get over his death and hone their skills in the dungeon. It was a harsh demand Aiko-sensei of course heavily resisted. She had lost one student and she by no means wanted to lose another.

Sure the student she lost didn't die by the dungeon's means, but she believed it was this world itself that compelled her students to fight each other. That uncontrollable power and unnatural growth together combined in her eyes as an environment for jealousy and other negative emotions to fester.

She was afraid of allowing her students to gain more power, otherwise they might begin comparing each other and another fight would break out. A fight that might take the life of another student.

But how was she going to stop the students that still decided to continue forth with their mission? With her job as a 'Farmer' she was in no way capable of physically restraining her students. And despite her many pleas, they still ignored her. As for asking the Holy Church to help? They had no reason to, in fact they were overjoyed that a few of the student's continued to venture into the dungeon along with their parties.

So in the end she could only clench her hands frustratingly as she watched them enter the dungeon.

Hajime was a bit remorseful at having refused her pleas as well, but he needed strength if he was going to protect the one he loves and leave this world.

"Nagumo-kun, what do you think of this?" This was Shirasaki Kaori, the star of the school back when they were in their old world. She had comforted Hajime when he was mourning the loss of his only friend, a sentiment he greatly appreciated.

That combined with the feelings he held for her the night before they first ventured into the dungeon created a sort of awkward bittersweet atmosphere between the two.

But never minding all that he returned his eyes to the scene. The rest of the class looked over, dubious as to what the two were up to.

Near the entrance to the 65th floor was a new room that was unmapped. It was something Captain Meld was wary of, at least until he and his men detected no magical traps in the room.

And while there were no magical traps he and his men tested out the room by throwing objects in to see if they activated any other traps. Seeing no response they moved into the room ready for battle.

And then—

Nothing happened.

The room was completely empty, apart from a table with a note stabbed to it using a dagger. The note simply read:

[Hello Heroes from another world. Welcome, to the depths of hell. Who I am isn't important, or more like I don't wanna tell you who I am. I have left this note behind in case my battle with the Behemoth tomorrow ends with my death. Beneath the table's cloth is a bag of materials and supplies that might prove helpful in your battle against the Behemoth. Once again, I welcome you to the depths of hell. I'm sure your venture down was about as hellish as my descent. As such I congratulate you. Should I have died on the next floor, please bring that bastard down to the deeper depths of hell with me. Farewell, and goodluck.]

The note ended there. What particularly caught Hajime's ears were two things: One, whoever left this note behind knew of the heroes' summoning into this world. Two, by their words it seemed like they were alone. He didn't know if this person's party was wiped out and in despair they decided to go down fighting the Behemoth rather than dying on the expedition back up.

When Hajime relayed his thoughts to Meld, Captain Meld pondered for a moment thinking of a party that could make it this far in the small span between the time the heroes' were summoned and now.

No parties came to mind. This made Hajime ponder even further. The room they were in was too refined that the probability of someone who carved it out of desperation was unlikely. In fact by the contents of the letter whoever it was readied themselves for death. If that was so then why did they go through the effort of making sure this room was carved nicely.

The more likely possibility was that rather than carving out this room it was something made by the survivor using some sort of skill. Hajime rested his hand on the floor, by the grooves and molds of it he indeed confirmed that unless they used tools from their world it was unlikely that the survivor didn't use some skill to make it.

He looked back at the stone door with ornate patterns and the table that had perfectly even proportional legs.

"Nagumo-kun?" Kaori shook his shoulder worriedly.

"Hm? Ah, what is it, Shirasaki-san?" Hajime snapped out of his stupor and responded kindly to Kaori's inquiry.

Kaori shook her head softly before stating her concerns. "It's just that, if you ever need to talk I can help you! I know I'm not very well versed in these matters, and I probably shouldn't be bothering you."

She looked at the bags under his eyes and his somewhat messy hair. To her it looked like Hajime hasn't been getting very good sleep since Ivan passed away.

"....Thank you very much, Shirasaki-san. Your kind words really do a lot for me than you think. Hmph, if it weren't for you I'd probably stay locked up in my room. But it's fine. Ivan was someone who always worked hard to achieve his goals, so I'm going to do the same!"

Hajime responded to her words with a resolute smile, his voice full of gratitude and conviction. Kaori stared at his stunningly bright smile before turning away. Never in their years as classmates did she see him show such an expression.

"Hm? Shirasaki-san, what's wrong? You're looking a little red." Hajime walked up to her with concern, and rested his hand on her forehead. Checking to see if she maybe had been feeling unwell.

"It's nothing! Nothing at all!" She hurriedly swiped his hands out of the way before running over to her best friend.

"How strange?" Hajime followed behind her at a leisurely pace, taking one last look at the room before bowing gratefully, thanking whoever left behind the supplies for their generosity.

And of course he dealt with his class' interrogative gazes as they asked what he had done to Kaori.

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BZZZZZZZZZT!

Sparks flew in the air as a figure was seen jumping from tree to tree, footholds protruded from the trees with every step he took. He rebalanced the suspiciously human shaped luggage on his back as he looked behind him.

"Hey, Yue. Are they still chasing after us?" Ivan said to Yue, who was clinging onto his back like a koala. If not for her poor physical abilities Ivan would have already dropped her off his back and told her to follow along. But right now they were being chased by enemies, hundreds of enemies to be precise.

"Yes, and their numbers are increasing one after another." Yue peered over her shoulder before responding back to Ivan as stoically as ever, it seemed she was completely at ease with this situation.

Ivan on the other hand was a bit unsettled. It was the first time since his descent into the dungeon that he ran into a group of monsters that held a number surpassing fifty. What made the situation altogether more odd was the tulips and flowers, these prehistoric raptor looking things adorned on their heads.

At first Ivan and Yue thought they were a bit cute but even that sentiment was destroyed as the bloodthirsty attitude of theirs completely broke the image of friendliness they once held.

It all started when they departed from the 149th floor, after their reconciliation Yue and Ivan traveled further into the depths of the dungeon. This time arriving on the 160th floor. Ivan's water based transmutation and Yue's mastery of magic combined made them soar through the last ten floors without much disruption.

Ivan dropped down into an open field before urging Yue to get off his back. Together they stood back to back as a swarm of raptors attacked them from all sides.

"Glacial Sheet." Yue calmly recited the name of her spell before a barrage of ice needles appeared and intercepted the approaching monsters. The sound of flesh being pierced and bodies hitting the floor resounded over a hundred times as Yue redirected the aim of the attack and extended its duration.

Ivan on the other hand pulled out four canteens from his backpack, he used the water from them to create a defensible wall of ice, manipulating points of the wall into spikes as the raptors jumped into it.

WIth Ivan's excellent defense and Yue's impeccable offense the crowd of monsters thinned significantly.

Ivan had Yue stop her onslaught as he carried her to the tallest tree in the area. Asking her to charge a powerful spell in her arsenal, promising to pay back the losses with his blood.

It seems that no matter how many they wiped out, more just came. But what made both Yue and Ivan confused was the patterns of their attack.

What Ivan had expected from the raptor-like creatures was some sense of cunning or tact, instead the horde of them practically threw themselves at their enemy without any thinking. That combined with how even though they were spread out on this floor they always convened together on their enemy made the both of them even more suspicious of it all.

"Now, Yue!" Ivan looked at the monsters clawing away at their tree. He finally gave the order for Yue to release the spell she's been holding after they grouped up in large numbers.

"Frost Prison!" With a yell this time, Yue released her spell as the base of the tree froze almost instantaneously. The life in the eyes of the monsters dimmed out shortly as they became encased in ice. Their skin turning blue and movement becoming impossible.

"Haah… Haah…" Yue panted softly as all the mana she had in her vanished in a single moment.

Ivan lifted her in the air before praising her for her hard work.

"Excellent work as always! As expected of my assistant!"

"...Gufufu…"

Yue laughed faintly at Ivan's praise, she bent her head down and bared her fangs as Ivan revealed his neck. A slight blush crept up her cheeks as she drank his blood.

"So, Yue. Can we come to the conclusion that these things are just being controlled by parasites?"

Yue dislodged herself from Ivan's neck as she turned to answer his question.

"Their movements, it's like they're being controlled. And no matter how many we take out they just keep finding us one after another, without any regard for their own lives despite us wiping them out. The flowers on their heads, they must be the parasites."

Ivan nodded in correlation with her words, so long as the main body remains alive it'll be difficult to fight their way out of this floor without erasing all life on it.

Jumping down from the tree, Ivan slung Yue onto his back as a whole new batch of monsters surrounded them.

BZZZZZT!

Ivan ran forward, taking care of any of the monsters that got in their way as he either combusted or froze them.

Yue on the other hand took care of the ones she could from his back. Each time she felt her reserves get low she would bare her fangs once again at Ivan and take what she needed as he continued his run.

Ivan bottled up the urge to reprimand her for taking every opportunity to suck at his blood before sighing at the frivolous attitude he expected from a royal vampire.

Their efforts bore fruit as the two made it to a cavern with a crack wide enough that a man would need to walk in sideways to fit. Ivan took the opportunity despite the monsters right on their tail and managed to squeeze in, dragging Yue alongside him.

BZZZZZZZT!

The crack became sealed as Ivan moved his hand away from it.

Ivan and Yue took a short minute to breath before proceeding cautiously. Odds were that the main body of the parasite resided in this cavern. It wasn't until they followed the path that the scenery changed.

The floor was covered in moss as light peered in from the cracks from above, the dome shape of the room gave quite a bit of space. Ivan particularly eyed the crack at the end of the room, guessing that perhaps it would lead them to the next floor.

"Yue! Hurry cast 'Wind Wall'!" Ivan yelled out to Yue as a bunch of ping pong sized green balls flew towards them.

"Wind Wall!" Yue hurriedly cast the magic as the wall of air appeared and pushed away what Ivan believed to be spores.

"GGGGRRRRRRAAAAAA!" Ivan and Yue listened to what sounded like a disgruntled dog before turning their eyes to the figure that came out of the moss.

A woman-plant hybrid became apparent in their eyes as Ivan immediately assumed it to be a Dryad. The countless vines that coiled around like tentacles disgusted them as even its ugly face ruined Ivan's impression of the creature from mythos renowned for their beauty.

Yue disallowed it to do anything as she launched a volley of fire based attacks in its direction.

"Crimson Javelin!" A spear shaped flame flew through the air and pierced the head of the Dryad instantly.

"...." Ivan on the other hand was disappointed by the Dryad's weakness. It seemed it was incapable of doing anything other than releasing those mind control spores. And even then so long as its intended victim avoided them then the Dryad was basically a walking plant.

Ivan patted Yue on the head, praising her for her work. He thought about how good she'd look in a lab coat before nodding to himself. Yue on the other hand accepted his praise with glee before dragging him to the entrance to the next floor.

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Hey hey folks, today I wanna give a huge thanks to my two patrons! That being BlackSnakeZ1 and our newest member, Nazir Bizzell. Once again I thank you two for the contribution to my dreams and hope you enjoy what you find.

Progress, progress, progress. The wheel of time continues to move as our characters work their way through the dungeon. Maaaaa~ I just hope this chapter succeeded in showing that the world is moving even beyond the main character's view.

Thanks again for reading and I wish you a pleasant day.

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