CH. 186: Power of love?

Seeing the high cliff, a crazy idea brewed in my head. Instead of taking the crystal bridge to the bottom of the fall, why don't we—

"Asahi-sama, are you planning to…?" Aimi guessed my intention.

"Yep. Let's dive."

"Crazy plan," Rika muttered and looked down. "I can disperse the force with telekinesis. The thrill will be greater than jumping from a building."

Saeko and Shiori nodded together. Shiori had her flying technique; Saeko had the water element, so she can easily survive; Rika had telekinesis. As for Aimi, well, she was the last boss. A meager fall like this won't even graze her. Even so, I hugged Nao and Aimi to my chest. Although the airhead had fantastic wind spells, there was no telling what went wrong.

"Let's dive!"

"W-Wait!"

Aimi swiftly hugged my neck as I dived headfirst. The adrenaline rushed to my head as the wind roared in my ears. This was a better fall than bungee jumping I experienced on my high school trip.

My fiery wings quickly decelerated the fall before we slipped into the pool. I swam back to the surface. Nao sank her teeth in my neck.

"You don't need to carry me like a sack of potato. Shiori-chan taught me her flight spell. You got me wet now."

"I wanted to see my fianceé wet," I whispered and ruffled her wet hair.

Before she replied, Rika's dive splashed us. Shiori caught Saeko midair and smiled.

"We're fine up here."

Nao sighed as she clung to me. Aimi released me and dove into the water. I activated Life Sense to find two presences underneath us.

[Life Sense' ranked up to E.]

One presence quickly vanished, and crimson dyed the water. A hand extended from the water, followed by Aimi. A blue crab's corpse emerged on the surface with metallic claws.

"We're surrounded by the monsters."

I tried the Life Sense skill again to find a hundred monsters in about fifty meters range.

Rika lifted herself with telekinesis. "Water is such a pain."

The Phenex fire burned and propelled me out of the water.

A serpent peeked from the water, revealing its enormous body. The fins on its head and its jade scales reminded me of the eastern dragons. It flickered its tongue and hissed.

Around the serpent, many other monsters appeared—turtles with crystals protruding from their back, sharks with sharp fins, blue-skinned women with green hair similar to intertwined vines, and blank white eyes.

I spotted a fishtail covered in scales in place of a lower body. First old hag harpies, then creepy mermaids—this dungeon ruined all fantasies for monster girls.

The mermaid opened their mouth and sang a surprising pleasant song.

*Bang!*

The singer's died on their debut. Rika made a disgusted face. "These mermaids tried to control my mind. Idiots. This temptation is nothing before what I endured for years as I waited for Aa-chan to mature."

"This shotacon," Shiori mumbled as she sliced down the monsters with katana blades.

"Girls, massacre formation," I said and equipped Ayamur. I swung the spear, and the shockwave created a wave, dragging all the monsters back.

"Nice." Rika's finger kept pressing the trigger as her rifle swiftly switched targets.

Saeko ran on water and dealt with the monsters behind me. With her remarkable agility combined with her Water Element, water walking was an easy feat for her. Nao threw wind spells to aid Saeko's blind spots.

Their flawless teamwork made me chuckle.

The weaklings died in a matter of seconds, coloring the pure water blood red.

Saeko cleaned her blade, standing still on an ice platform with a sadistic smile. "Monster Rex will spawn here tomorrow, after one month. I can't wait to have a one-on-one with the twin-headed dragon."

Monster Rex? Oh, that boss monster Goliath that spawned on the 17th floor was called Monster Rex.

Saeko sure got some benefits from this friendship. I'll bug Eina for more details later about the dungeon.

For now, I had to bully some more monsters to regain some confidence.

We crossed the pool and entered the staircase leading down to the next floor. The floor looked like the upper floors with taller ceilings and spacious hallways.

Not long later, we ran into a monster we hunted a lot lately.

The bloodsaurus.

Though, this one charged at us faster than its surface counterpart. Saeko and I made quick work of them.

Thirty minutes later, we left the 28th floor with Bloodsaurus corpses all over the place.

(Grayfia is asking permission to come over with lunch.)

'Teleport her.'

Grayfia appeared with a giant bento that seemed to be common in the anime.

"My Lord, let's dig in."

"Can't we go back to the inn?" Nao asked.

I turned to her with a blank stare. The other girls except Aimi did the same, giving a 'what the fuck' look to Nao.

Nao became overwhelmed and fumbled with her gloves. "D-Did I say something strange?"

"We're in a dungeon," Shiori said. "A place full of monsters that are out to kill us. Returning to a peaceful place will disperse the tensions. It'll shatter our immersion."

Saeko and Rika nodded in agreement. I shared the same thought. Nao also nodded under pressure. Aimi and Grayfia remained cool as ever.

We found a room next and cleaned it a bit. Sitting on the sheet brought by Grayfia, I dove into the food. Saeko took a bite and gave a thumbs up to the maid.

"The harmony between the spices couldn't be any better."

"Thanks, Mistress Saeko," Grayfia said with a sincere smile.

It was still odd to hear Grayfia addressing the girls.

"She surpassed us, Saeko," Shiori said.

"I do not mind," Saeko said. "Grayfia-san is part of our family. Asahi-kun also likes the variety in our cooking style."

Rika nodded. "Yep. I remember the quote, 'You'll eventually get sick of eating the same food over and over.' This maid brought a breath of fresh air to our lives. Still, just wait for the day Shizu until surpasses all of you with her sisterly love!"

"Asahi-sama eats me every day. Will he get bored with me eventually?" Aimi whispered, munching on crispy choco cookies.

"Never," I told her with telepathy, getting an earnest smile from her. She glanced down at her collar and pulled it up a bit, looking proud.

"Power of love," Shiori whispered and gave a cheeky to Nao, whose face turned crimson. "Lady Nao, your power of love is infinite!"

Nao lifted her bowl to hide from my curious glance. "It won't happen again… I swear."

Dammit, I want to know more about it!

'Klyscha.'

The goddess retold the event that happened a few days ago. Nao cosplayed as a magical girl in her room. In front of her TV, she chanted the spells alongside the magical girls. Shiori entered her room to ask if Nao wanted to cook that day, only to get dazzled by Nao's appearance.

It became a dark memory for Nao.

Thankfully, Shiori captured a few shots of Nao in that red tight outfit with a succubus tail and white wings. I'll coax it out of her tonight.