Volume 3 Chapter 1

[Vol 3] Chapter 1 – The Guardian of the Depths

Although there was no question that the Aruraune was dead, Yue was still hurt. After that event, she sucked Hajime’s blood until he fainted. That was successful enough to put her back into a good mood, so they continued their journey.

Their journey continued until they had descended 100 levels from where Hajime first started. Before each level, he would check his equipment and supplies. As always, whenever Hajime would work, Yue would stare at him. She was really watching Hajime rather than the work. Even now she was watching him work from his right side while relaxing. Her expression did not suit the atmosphere of the dungeon.

They lost track of how many days had passed since they met, because there was no sense of time underground. Recently, Yue was displaying a more comfortable expression. She was even acting a little spoiled.

Whenever they were resting at the base, she would especially get glued to him. If he laid down, she would cling to his arm while they slept near each other. Yue would embrace him from the back when he sat down. When she fed on his blood, she would cuddle him from the front. She would stay there even after she was done with the feeding. With a content expression, she would rub her face on his chest.

Hajime is a man. Yue with her 12 years old appearance was charming and should not easily invoke lust, but she was older than that. Since Hajime was the one being bewitched from that glimpse, it was troublesome. Still, they were in the dungeon, the tension in there helped him bear with it. When they returned to the surface, he didn’t have much confidence in resisting her advances with her adult mode. There may not be the meaning to impart…

“Hajime…as careful as usual…”

“Hmm? Ah, because it’s the 100th floor next. I thought there might be something there. The upper dungeon is believed to have 100 floors… just in case.”

When Hajime passed the 80th floor of this place, he thought there was a possibility that the place they were in was no longer the usual “Orcus Dungeon”. He had the same feeling as when he fell into the abyss. Judging from what he sensed as he traversed this level, this was certainly a basement a way off from the usual labyrinth.

Firearms, martial arts, special magic, weapons, and transmutation. After polishing these skills, Hajime had confidence in himself. He wouldn’t be taken down easily. However, this place was scary enough to kill him even with his abilities.

That is why he prepared as much as possible. Hajime’s current status…

His status has continuously climbed after consuming his first demon meat, though he had not received much Special Magic. The stats did not increase anymore from normal monsters, but the boss or high-level monsters still did. Just like the other demons that didn’t get Special magic from eating other demons, and his stats were getting harder to raise in his state.

When Hajime and Yue finished all their preparations, they went to the staircase that led them down.

The level they stumbled upon, was a very large space supported by a vast number of pillars. Each of the pillars was 5m in diameter, and each had spiral designs and vine patterns engraved onto them. The arrangement of each row of pillars was very uniform, and was even spaced out evenly. There was about 30m to the ceiling. Unlike the usual rough ground in the dungeon, this place had beautiful flat ground, and the room gave off a solemn atmosphere.

They stepped into the room while they admired it. All the pillars started to shine faintly then. This got them to regain their caution. Pillars lit up sequentially towards the back of the room.

Hajime was vigilant for a while, but they decided to advance because nothing was happening. They advanced while making full use of their senses and perception skills. After they progressed 200m, they found a dead end ahead. No, not a dead end, but a huge door. The double door was 10m tall and had extravagant sculptures engraved onto it. Particularly, some of the patterns drawn were the same as the ones on top of the octagon system.

“…This looks amazing. By any chance…”

“Abode of Traitors?”

He had a feeling this was the room with the last boss. Hajime’s instincts were sending him warnings, while there was no reaction from his perception skills. The fight ahead would definitely be a troublesome one. Yue seemed to feel it too because there was sweat on her forehead.

“Isn’t this the greatest? We finally reached our goal.”

Hajime disregarded his instinct and put his bold smile on. He had no choice but to keep going, no matter what was behind there.

Yue eyed the door with an expression that told him she was prepared for it.

The two finally walked past the last of pillars and advanced towards the door.

At that moment, a huge magic formation nearly 30 meters wide appeared between them and the door. Crimson light emitted from the magic, and it pulsated.

Hajime recognized this magic. He couldn’t forget it, since it was the same magic that triggered because of the trap that day and caused him to fall into the abyss. But the magic formation for the Behemoth a measly 10m in diameter. Compared to the magic formation from last time, this was 3 times larger than that, a lot more complex and detailed.

“Hey hey, what’s with this size? Is it really the last boss?”

“…It’s fine…We won’t lose…”

As expected, Hajime smiled. Yue tugged on one of his arms tightly with a determined expression on her face.

Hajime nodded at Yue’s words, and glared at the magic formation. Seems like they wouldn’t be able to advance if they didn’t defeat the monster that came out of that magic formation.

The formation shone more and more until it finally burst. Hajime and Yue both held up their arms to prevent the light from blinding them. When the light disappeared, the boss awaited them.

A monster over 30m in length, 6 heads with long necks, sharp fangs, and dark red eyes. Comparable to the Hydra of the myths.

“”””””Kuruuaan!””””””

Those six pair of eyes stared at Hajime as it gave off a strange roar. It seemed to want to bring judgment upon the intruders who didn’t know their place. A fierce thirst for blood, that would have stopped an ordinary man’s heart, was flung at Hajime. One of the heads with a Red Crest on it opened its mouth as flames emitted from it. The flames were already on the scale of a massive wall.

Hajime and Yue jumped to the right and left to start their counterattack. Hajime fired Donner at the Red Head, and the bullet sent it flying.

When Hajime pumped his fist in the air at his victory, one head with a white pattern shouted. White light wrapped around the crimson head and restored it fully, like time had been reversed. The white head appeared to be able to use healing magic.

Yue had launched an ice shard at a Green Head and blew it away. However, the result was the same as the Red one, the white head cast its spell and healed it.

Hajime started to speak with Yue through the “Telepathic Communication”, while he tsked.

(“Yue! Aim for that white head! Or it’s endless!”)

(“Okay!”)

The head with a blue pattern shot out a gravel of ice from its mouth. Hajime and Yue were aiming for the white head while they avoided the shot.

Bang!

“Scarlet Spear!”

A flash of light and a blazing spear shot towards the white head. However, the moment when it was about to hit, the yellow head quickly went into the line of fire and bloated. The head shone yellow and took both of the attacks head-ons. After the attack settled, there was an unscathed yellow head glaring at them.

“Tsk! A shield. That head shields the healing head, a nice balance.”

Hajime threw an incendiary grenade over the heads. At the same time, he fired Donner at the White Head with full power. Yue helped by firing off her “Scarlet Spear” in rapid succession. Her “Azure Sky” may have surpassed the yellow head and hit the white head, but she would be easy prey after using such a strong spell that would exhaust her. She may be able to recover fast if she drank blood, but the heads were probably not going to allow the chance. Unless the number of heads could be halved, she couldn’t use her best spells.

The yellow head was tanking all their attacks. But soon it was showing signs of damage in its previously flawless head.

“Kuruan!”

The white head took to healing the yellow head at once. The head performed its healer role perfectly. However, at that moment the incendiary grenade exploded over the white head. Tar at 3000 degree centigrade was scattered around. When it poured onto the white head, it screamed in pain.

Don’t miss this chance! Hajime sent this message telepathically. They planned for a simultaneous attack, but before they could execute it, a scream sounded. Yue’s scream.

“Noooo!!”

“!? Yue!”

He quickly tried to rush over to her, but was intercepted by wind blades and fireballs fired by the green head and red head respectively. Yue was still screaming, Hajime wondered what was going on with his teeth clenched. The black head, he realized it had done nothing this whole time.

No that’s wrong, it had already done something.

Hajime fired Donner at the black head, while he dodged around with “Flicker” and “Air Walk”. With the sound of his firearm, the black head that was staring at Yue was blown away. Yue collapsed at the same time. He could see that her face was pale even from a distance. The blue head opened its big mouth and stretched its head towards Yue to swallow her.

“Like I’ll let you!!”

Hajime prepared himself to get damaged in the storm of wind blades and fireballs as he used his “Flicker”. A potentially fatal attack was avoided with the use of Donner and “Air Claws”. At the last moment, Hajime arrived between the blue head and Yue. But there was no time to counter, so he quickly triggered “Vajra”. Hajime could not use this skill while moving. That’s why he stood before Yue to block that attack. The magic covered his body at the same time the head bit him.

“Kururu!”

“Guu!”

While raising a low growl, the blue head swallowed Hajime whole. When it tried to close its jaws, Hajime leaned forward and braced his legs to prevent it from closing. He pushed Donner against the head’s upper jaw and pulled the trigger.

The blue head erupted from the blast and bits of its brain flew off. Hajime used his “Grand Kick” on the motionless head. Then he threw a flash grenade and sonic grenade at the Hydra.

“Sonic Grenade” was developed from a demon that could emit ultrasonic waves that they met on the 80th level. The demon had a special organ inside its body that generated these sounds to attack. Hajime didn’t get any special magic for defeating this monster, but he was able to use its special organ as materials for his new grenade.

Those two grenades covered the Hydra in intense light and ultrasonic waves. Hajime carried Yue and hid behind the pillars with the chance those grenades provided.

“Hey! Yue! Get it together!”

“…”

She didn’t react to his words with her paling expression and trembling body. What the heck did the black head do to her? While he cursed, he slapped Yue’s cheeks. Hajime called out for her telepathically and gave her some sacred water. After a while, light began to dwell in her hollow eyes.

“Yue!”

“…Hajime”

“Yeah, it’s me. Are you alright? What happened?”

Yue confirmed Hajime’s existence with blinking eyes. She extends out her small hands and touched his face. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she realized that Hajime was really in front of her, and tears began to collect at the edge of her eyes.

“…What a relief… I thought I was abandoned… alone in the dark again…”

“Ah? What are you talking about?”

Hajime was perplexed at her state. Yue said she saw a scene play out where Hajime had abandoned her and resealed her. When she saw that, a strong sense of insecurity struck her. She became bound by fear then it paralyzed her body and mind.

“Tsk! A debuff spell? Seems like the black head can induce panic into its opponent. Ðamn, that monster has a good balance of skills!”

“…Hajime.”

Yue watched Hajime curse at the troublesome enemy with her anxious eyes. It was a frightening scene, being abandoned by Hajime. He was the person to risk his own life at unsealing her after 300 years. He, who didn’t treat her differently after she told him she was a vampire, and allow her to feed off of him day-by-day. It was unavoidable that her heart yielded.

The only place for Yue was beside Hajime. How nice it was when they promised to return to Hajime’s hometown together. She didn’t even want to imagine being alone again. Therefore the planted nightmare was stuck in her head and ate her up. Hajime stands up at the sign of the Hydra recovering from the confusion. Yue detained him involuntarily when she grabbed his clothes.

“…I…”

She was shaking with an uneasy expression that was close to crying. Hajime finally understood what nightmare she saw and what she was currently thinking. In his usual manner, he was able to perceive her feelings. Either way, he had promised to take her to Japan. There was no reason to pretend not to know.

He would probably be able to comfort her with words, but there was no time for that. If he said some half-hearted words, she would still fall prey to the black head’s magic. There was a possibility that Hajime would mess up, but at that time he would follow Yue. While he thought of that excuse, Hajime scratched his head and squatted in front of Yue to meet her eyes.

And then…

“?…!?”

Hajime inclined his head and kissed Yue.

Their lips only touched a bit, but Yue had a dramatic reaction. She just seriously stared at Hajime.

He averted his eyes bashfully and led her to stand with his hand.

“We will kill that beast and survive. Then, we will reach the surface and return home… together.”

Yue stared at Hajime in utter amazement, then her usual deadpan expression broke down to gently display a beautiful smile.

“Yes!”

Hajime cleared his throat to gather himself and informed Yue of the strategy.

“Yue, I’m going to use Schlagen. It can’t fire continuously, so please cover me.”

“…Leave it to me!”

Yue was suddenly full of motivation. Her quiet mutters were gone, and in place was a voice full of ambition. All the anxiety before vanished completely.

It seems like there had been a breakthrough in various ways. Hajime recalled his usual lack of independence, and when he thought about the future, maybe he acted rashly. However, the Hydra performed an explosion. The beast roared as it pelleted the area Hajime and Yue were at with fireballs, wind blades, and ice shards.

The two jumped out of the shadow of the pillar and started their counterattack.

“Scarlet Spear! Imperial Cannon! Frozen Rain!”

The trigger for the magic was activated rapidly, and the magic built up at an impossible speed. An ice tornado accompanied a spiraling spear, with vacuum blades whirling around it, and a sharp needle pelted the Hydra all at once. She had aimed for the gap when they attacked and launched it towards the red, green, and blue head to force the yellow head to act. But the yellow head didn’t move as it noticed Hajime aiming for the white head and raised a roar.

“Kuruuan!”

Then a nearby pillar waved and it transformed into an impromptu shield. This yellow head seems to be able to use a skill similar to the scorpion’s, though the scale was smaller.

Yue’s magic hit the stone walls, blasting through the vanguard of walls. The magic directly hit three of the heads.

“””Guruuuu!!”””

Three of the heads screamed and wriggled. When the black head’s eyes caught Yue’s it started to use its debuff magic.

Uneasiness welled up in Yue again. However, Yue remembered her kiss with Hajime before she was crushed by the uneasiness. Then, her body got a passionate feeling and it washed away her anxiety.

“…It doesn’t work anymore!”

In order to cover Hajime, Yue was casting spells rapidly and was emphasizing the number of spells rather than the power. While the red head received healing, blue head and green head resumed their attacks, and Yue contended with them by herself. They tried to counter each other.

While the three heads were occupied with Yue, Hajime approached the beast with a dash. He was going for a single killing blow, because it would be troublesome if the beast had emergency measures it had yet to use. When the black head realized its magic didn’t work on Yue, it looked for Hajime. The pain, hunger, and anxiety of his time in the abyss rose inside his chest. But…

“So what?”

It was past the time that he endured long ago. Feelings from those days were not a big deal now. Hajime blew away the black head with Donner.

The white head tried to recover the head in a split second, but before it could Hajime jumped into the air using his skills and aimed his Schlagen.

Just as he had assumed, the yellow head stood in the way of the shot for the white head.

“Then break together!”

Hajime formulated a spark in the Schlagen with his “Lightning Clad”. The bullet was a full metal jacket, the Taur Stone being covered by the Shtar ore from the scorpion. Shtar ore had a high affinity to magic and it suited “Lightning Clad” well. All the compressed combustion powder was ignited with the spark.

Bang!!

The red bullet was electromagnetically accelerated through the 1.5m barrel with a tremendous explosive sound. This gun was 10 times more powerful than Donner’s maximum output. With his simple calculation, this rifle was 100 times more powerful than a normal anti-matter rifle. This was a monster weapon that was not possible without this world’s special ore and magic.

When it was fired, the bullet made a red trail like it was a thick laser. Once, they thought Kouki’s spell that was shot at the Behemoth was the trump card, but this made that look like child’s play. Yellow head met the bullet directly as it burned through the air.

Although the yellow head had a defense like “Vajra”… but the bullet reached the white head like there was nothing there. The bullet penetrated through everything like nothing as it blasted through the wall in the rear. Vibrations violently wracked the whole level as if an earthquake had happened.

What was left were two necks that looked like they never had a head to begin with. The open wound had been cauterized by the heat and made it seem like it never had those two heads. Debris was littered everywhere, and no one knew how long that bullet kept going, only that it left a huge hole in the wall.

The other heads did not think that almost half of its heads could be extinguished in a single moment. Even Yue was staring at Hajime in utter amazement and had forgotten her enemy. When Hajime landed flat on the ground, there was smoke rising out of Schlagen’s barrel as the round was ejected. When the shell fell to the floor, the three heads regained its senses. All three pairs of eyes glared at Hajime, but their previous opponent was not someone to lightly take their eyes off of.

“Scorching Heaven!”

Once the Vampire Princess —an existence which caused her own people to fear her due to her talents and ultimately sealed her— poured her power into the spell, it was like turning Heaven’s vengeance against the hydra.

Immediately after, electric discharge started to gather around the 3 heads and soon, 6 lightning spheres surrounded the heads. The discharge soon lengthened and connected all the spheres together, forming a huge lightning globe in the center.

Zing!!

When the globe burst, it rained down lightning of great power within the confines of the 6 smaller spheres. The three heads tried to run, but the surrounding lightning spheres were acting like walls. As the wrath of God poured down from the sky, flashes and thunder filled the room.

Helpless, the three heads screamed in agony as they were charcoaled and erased by the superlative magic that lasted more than 10 seconds.

Like always, Yue collapsed into a sitting position after using that strong of a spell. She was breathing heavily as her magic power was exhausted and on her expressionless face was the eyes that conveyed satisfaction; she gave Hajime a thumbs up to show her satisfaction. Hajime returned the gesture with his own thumbs up and smiled. He began to walk while he carried the rifle on his shoulder. What remained of the Hydra were left behind him as he made his way to Yue.

Just after that.

“Hajime!”

Yue’s desperate voice sounded out. As he wondered what was up, he followed her line of sight. From the Hydra’s remains rose a seventh head that glared at him. Hajime stiffened unintentionally.

However, the seventh silver head shifted its gaze to Yue and it let loose an aurora without any preparations. Like the Schlagen shot, the aurora shot towards Yue in an instant. She couldn’t move because of magic exhaustion.

The moment the silver head turned to Yue, Hajime had jumped out as his body was attacked by chills.

Just like with the blue head earlier, Hajime was able to jump into the line of fire to save Yue. This time the results were different. The aurora was swallowing Hajime whole. Yue’s body was blown away by the aftereffects of the hit, even if it wasn’t a direct hit.

Soon the aurora calmed down, and Yue sat herself up as her whole body was in pain. She searched for the figure of Hajime, as he had been swallowed by the aurora after he forced his way through to take the attack.

Hajime had not moved from the place he blocked the attack. He was in an imposing stance as smoke blew from his whole body. On the floor was the wreckage of the melted Schlagen.

“H-Hajime?”

“…”

He was unresponsive. His body just shook and fell forward.

“Hajime!”

Yue quickly rushed over to him, ignoring her aching body as she was driven by uneasiness. Because of her magic drain, she couldn’t gather any strength and fell. With a suppressed impatient feeling, she took out her sacred water and drank. Her vitality returned slowly and she rushed to Hajime this time.

Blood gradually began to puddle under Hajime’s stomach. The attack had penetrated Hajime’s Vajra and did a lot of damage. If he had not used the Schlagen as a shield, he most likely would have died. Luckily, his Schlagen was a weapon made from the shell of the scorpion that endured Yue’s “Azure Sky”.

When she turned him on his back, Hajime’s condition was severe. His fingers, shoulder, and flank were burned and festering. Some of the parts even had bone exposed. The right side of his face was burned and his right eye was bleeding. There wasn’t much damage to his legs, it was a blessing in disguise.

Yue was going to give him sacred water, but the Hydra wasn’t going to allow that. The beast was shooting innumerable balls of light, 10cm in diameter this time. Its intensity could be comparable to a gatling gun.

She quickly held Hajime and exerted all her strength to hide behind the pillars. Balls of light were shot one after another at the pillars, and caused the pillars to be shaved down. They had less than a minute left. Each of the light balls was loaded with terrifying energy.

Yue quickly dropped the sacred water onto Hajime’s wound, and tried to get him to drink another one. However, Hajime didn’t have the power to swallow it, so he choked on it and spit some out. To get Hajime to drink it, Yue placed it in her mouth and kissed him. She forcibly made him drink it.

But the sacred water was not able to restore the wounds. Usually, the restoration began immediately, it seemed like something was inhibiting it.

“Why!?”

Yue took out all the sacred water on hand as she began to panic.

The factor that was inhibiting the restoration was the poison in hydra’s aurora; the poison melted his flesh. It usually would have melted a being without resistance. However, the sacred water’s restoration was faster than the dissolution speed of the poison. The speed was slow, but with Hajime’s enhanced body it would just take time to heal, but the right eye had evaporated with the aurora light. He would not be able to get it back because the sacred water could only restore, not regenerate.

Soon the pillar will be crushed, and it did not seem Hajime will be able to move until then. Yue stared at Hajime with a determined expression as she kissed him. She took Donner and stood up.

“…This time, I’ll save you…”

After her words of determination, she jumped out from behind the pillar. She only had a little magic and the sacred water was used up. With the body of a vampire that relied on body strengthening, she could only use Donner and her unreliable “Auto Regen”.

The silver head glared at Yue. who had jumped out of the pillar it was bombarding. Since her magic reserve was low, she employed a hit and run strategy rather than fighting it with magic. That was because she couldn’t fire Donner as skillfully as Hajime. Yue was originally not good with close quarter combat, so she was instantly driven into a corner.

Finally, one of the balls hit Yue on the shoulder.

“Agh!”

Groaning in pain, she endured it and resumed running after regaining her momentum. The moment she stopped because of the pain would be the time she collapsed. Her “Auto Regen” began, but it was slower than usual. The poison seemed to be effective against her regen. The vampiress’ magic reverse was cut again. In this situation, the magical power used to enforce her body would disappear soon.

Yue tried to approach the Hydra but the density of the barrage prevented her from going forward. She wouldn’t be able to shoot Donner if she couldn’t get closer. A plan was needed to close the distance between her and the beast. However, the barrage was merciless and it finally cornered her.

In desperation, she pulled Donner’s trigger to try to break the situation. Yue used a lightning spell to substitute the need for “Lightning Clad” acceleration. Count it as beginner’s luck, but the bullet went through the gaps of the barrage and hit the silver head’s temple.

However…

“Eh?”

Her voice leaked unintentionally. The blow should have some power even if she didn’t have sufficient acceleration, but the silver head did not suffer much damage. Shadows of despair fell over her expression, but her defeat meant Hajime’s death. She gritted her teeth and prepared to evade again.

However, such a pattern couldn’t continue on forever. The silver head’s eyes shined and another aurora was shot that jarred the surrounding space. Yue’s evasion route was limited by the light ball barrage so she chose to get blown away by jumping into the light bullets. This allowed her to avoid the aurora.

The price for that was a light bullet to the abdomen and a slam into the ground.

“Uu…Uu…”

Her body couldn’t move, but if she didn’t move, she would be hit by a barrage of light bullets. Yue knew this and struggled desperately, but her body didn’t listen. Her regeneration was too slow. She started to shed tears, unaware. It was mortifying, so unbelievably mortifying. Can she not protect Hajime by herself?

After the head had confirmed its victory over Yue, it roared and shot a barrage of light bullets.

The bullets of light approached Yue, but she did not close her eyes. To show that at least it hadn’t defeated her heart, she glared at the head. Soon, her whole vision was being taken by the flash of the bullet. If it hit directly, death was a certainty. She tried to apologize to Hajime for failing to protect him, as she said that she would go first.

For an instant… a gust of wind blew.

“Eh?”

Yue realized that she was in someone’s arms and the bullet struck to the side. When she looked at the person, she couldn’t believe her sight. It was unmistakably Hajime. He was breathing heavily from his wounds and one of his eyes were shut, but he gave Yue a tight hug.

“Don’t cry, Yue. It’s your win.”

“Hajime!”

She embraced Hajime filled with emotions. Most of his injuries had not healed. He was standing with pure willpower.

Hajime gazed at the silver head. The head glared back while making a bullet of light float in the surrounding. It threw the bullet so there would be no more discussion about who escaped death.

“So slow…”

Hajime did not move until the last moment, he fell down and evaded the bullet.

The head narrowed its eyes and started to attack with numerous light balls.

“Hajime, run away!”

Yue told Hajime with a desperate expression, but Hajime was indifferent. He even embraced and danced in rotations with Yue. They unsteady fell and avoided the bullets of light. When a light ball avoided Hajime, she seemed to have misunderstood.

Her eyes widened.

“Yue, suck my blood.”

His silent eye and quiet voice urged her. She normally would have hesitated to take his blood when he’s in a critical situation. Hajime embraced Yue and exposed his nape while dodging the light bullets.

“Your magic is the last resort… Do it, Yue. We will win.”

“…Okay!”

His strong words dwell within her, and she nodded. She believed in him and buried her face into his nape with her fangs. Yue’s body was rapidly healing when Hajime’s blood flowed into her. The two of them were dancing around and avoiding the storm of light bullets while in each other’s embrace.

Now, the world grew dull in color from his view. In the monochrome world, all things moved slowly. Only Hajime was moving as usual.

Hajime looked. The scene of Yue fighting by herself while his wavering consciousness tried to hold on. She was fighting desperately with his gun in one of her hands. When she fell on the ground and the beast started to emit the aurora to finish her off.

Fierce anger filled Hajime. What does he have to do? Would he be satisfied just sleeping here? To permit such unreasonableness to take his partner in such a place? Was he going to yield to such a beast?

Nay! Absolutely not! Anyone who threatened his, no, their survival, was an enemy,

“Kill!”

At that moment, Hajime felt a spark run through his head and awakened one of his skills. The final derivation of “Divine Step”, [Light Speed]. By expanding the cognitive functions, it increased the efficiency of all the skills associated with “Divine Step” dramatically. Hajime had once again, “exceeded the wall”.

Hajime arrived next to Yue in an instant with this skill and gently dodged the bullets of light.

Eventually, Yue finished sucking his blood and completely regained her powers.

“Yue, when I give the signal, cast “Azure Sky”. Until then, put your heart and soul into evading.

“Okay… and Hajime?”

“Me? Spadework.”

Hajime dropped Yue off behind the pillars and ran towards the silver head.

He dodged the incoming barrage of light and fired off Donner while using “Flicker”. The beast wasn’t able to stomach being hit again by the bullet so it dodged them. Bullets from Donner ended up making holes in the ceiling.

Hajime kept changing the area he shot at, but all the bullets only made holes in the surroundings. A taunting glint was apparent in the silver head’s eyes. Yue was becoming uneasy but she believed in him. She waited for the signal to cast her spell.

He jumped into the air with “Air Walk” and fired off Donner. His delicate steps which had not been possible before was now possible after awakening “Light Speed”. Hajime jumped around in the air near the ceiling, dodging the barrage.

Irritated, the silver head gave off an aurora attack carelessly. Naturally, Hajime dodged it easily with a grin. Hajime got ready to play his cards. The head became stiff while it did its aurora attack. Then he reloaded Donner and shot at 6 different places. An intense explosion and shock occurred on the ceiling. After an instant of silence, it began to collapse in one go. The debris was 10 m in diameter and weighed dozens of tons. That large mass crushed into the silver head.

Hajime opened a hole in the ceiling with Donner, and prepared a grenade while he evaded. He made parts of the ceiling fragile with his transmutation. Then he shot at the 6 places and caused them to explode.

His attack did not disappoint. If just simple debris could defeat this monster, he wouldn’t have that much trouble. Hajime approached the trapped and crushed silver head with “Flicker”. Using his transmutation, Hajime quickly changed the debris into restraints. At the same time, he created an impromptu blast furnace around the Hydra. He threw pouches containing incendiary grenades into the furnace and shouted.

“Yue!”

“Okay! “Azure Sky”!”

A pale sun appeared in the blast furnace and melted the silver head that was restrained. There was a chain explosion inside, and the power broke through its defense. The damage the silver head had suffered was not negligible.

“Guuruaaa!!”

The silver head let out a death throes. It tried to violently run away and shot off light bullets randomly. Walls started to break but Hajime was there to repair them to prevent its escape. The Hydra tried to use its aurora attack but the silver head melted in the high heat and was unable to shoot it.

Hajime’s perception could no longer sense the hydra, as it disappeared from his senses. This time he was convinced of its death and collapsed backward.

“Hajime!”

Yue crawled to him as her body had lost all its energy.

“Indeed… I’m spent…”

Hajime let consciousness slowly fade away as he felt Yue embracing him.