I Have been Reincarnated As a Lazy, Arrogant Noble, but When I Destroyed The Scenario Through Effort, I Became The Most Powerful With Extraordinary Magical Power - 75

075 – Sirens

As we started walking, what awaited us was the baptism of the dungeon.

“—Crouch!”

Pillars of water, and from there, small fish burst out. They leap onto the next pillar and disappear.

Both of them crouch as I instruct, but the small fish seem to be targeting us and burst out again.

I strike down the small fish with my sword, splitting them into pieces, and then I notice their sharp… beaks.

Just like swords.

If they hit the body, they’ll stab through. Well, judging from how their magical energy is surging, they might even penetrate.

I see, so that’s why the water pillars are spaced evenly in this area.

In the next moment, I start to hear sounds from the water pillars.

And then, like bullets, a swarm of small fish begins to move.

Ha, this is… the dungeon.

“Don’t stop, keep moving!”

“Got it!”

“Y-Yeah…”

I’m leading the charge. Alan aside, Karta probably has a tough time.

Or at least, that’s what I thought, but Karta is blowing away the fish with her wind magic, chanting spells around herself.

Alan, who appeared frightened, was effortlessly cutting through the fish at the same speed as me.

Seriously, these guys are talented.

It’s about 500 meters, and because we’re going at full speed, it took a bit of time, but we soon saw the next staircase in a matter of minutes.

I’m unscathed, but Alan and Karta are bleeding a little.

Do you need a break?

“I’m fine.”

“I’m okay too.”

It seems this isn’t much of an issue. The next staircase led underground.

Karta chants healing magic and alternates between healing Alan and herself.

It’s been more than I expected from the start.

More than half of the adventurers might retire or die there, or they’ll spend a considerable amount of time.

But in this world, dying isn’t taken too seriously.

That old man, the examiner, certainly chose a tough dungeon for us.

I could summon Devi, but considering the mana consumption, it’s still better not to. She’s inefficient. And sometimes, she’s a pain.

“De, Devi!?”

I feel like I heard something in my head, but it’s probably my imagination.

As we descend the staircase, it starts to become submerged partway.

No, this is probably the strategy needed to conquer this level.

I stop to calculate the distance.

If we’re swimming 500 meters, it’ll take quite a while. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to catch our breath in the middle.

Now, what should we do…

“Water’s Blessing: Cure Heal.”

Then Karta behind us applies magic to us.

A thin membrane covers our bodies.

“Breathing should be possible for a reasonable amount of time. Also, you’ll swim faster.”

Impressive, Karta-san. You can do this too!

Hehe, because I come from a borderland, I’ve always loved swimming.

She says it casually, but this is quite advanced magic.

Unlike simple attack magic, applying magic is quite difficult.

The spell structure is complex and requires a considerable understanding.

Really showing off her talent.

Shall we go, Weiss?

…Yeah. You’re up next, Alan.

Got it. Leave it to me.

As Alan disappears from sight…

“Thank you, Karta.”

Hehe, of course!

Well, I was the one who left Karta behind.

I’ll keep her in a good mood for now.

Monsters like fish appear on the way, but they’re not that strong.

I can kill them in one hit.

Well, there were about ten of them, so the numbers were somewhat high.

There’s no water from the third basement level, and a spacious area appears.

No, it’s too spacious…

Suddenly, a water wall appears.

After a roaring sound, it becomes like a maze, and I lose my sense of direction.

It’s a towering wall. I try to climb it but it’s made of water, so I can’t grab onto it.

But…

“Karta.”

“Yes!”

She’s exploiting a loophole in this maze.

Casually flying through the air, she guides us through the maze.

For now, she’s been the most useful.

However, the fourth level that followed was where the protagonist guy came in handy.

The reason was that there were too many annoying enemies.

“Let’s take a short break. I’m counting on you.”

“Huh, really!?”

The dungeon is long. Moderate breaks are necessary.

“Haah! Haaah!”

At times like this, the passionate types are full of enthusiasm, which is good.

It might have been good if Duke Mineral was there too.

If there’s another chance, I might invite him along. I could also take it easy.

“Haah, haah, done…”

“A-Allen, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I can’t use magic much, and I’m not as smart as Weiss, so I have to do my best…”

“Well, you certainly understand your position well. Rest a bit, and then let’s go—”

“No, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

I don’t dislike that aspect of you, protagonist guy.

Strangely, the Sirens didn’t appear on the fifth level either.

There were many other monsters, but they were all weak.

They are indeed rare monsters, but it’s about time for them to show up.

… What’s going on? Is it a different dungeon? No, that can’t be.

If my memory is correct, we’re about to reach the boss.

If the desired monster isn’t here, we’ll have to go back and search.

In a dungeon, it’s normal to hunt down the desired monster. You might end up caging hundreds of them in hopes of getting their drops.

But at that moment, I realized.

… That old man, is that what he meant?

“—Devi.”

“Devi!”

Emerging from the darkness with a pop, I switch to the magic sword Dual Sword.

This is where the real battle begins.

“Allen, instead of that blunt thing, equip the ancient magical tool you showed in the tournament. We’ll cut through to the seventh level.”

Normally, both Allen and I equip regular swords.

This is because there’s still a fair amount of mana consumption.

“But what about the Sirens?”

“Right, Weiss-kun. Maybe we overlooked them.”

“Just keep up.”

The sixth level was a massive Water Golem.

It absorbs all attacks.

They were quite troublesome and numerous, but they had a single weakness.

That was its small heart — the magic core.

It was cleverly concealed so we couldn’t see it, but we discovered it.

“Grooooaah!”

“Focus your magic energy in your eyes and sense it, then strike there!”

“Got it!”

“I see, as expected from… Weiss!”

As long as I give them instructions, the two move accurately.

It took some time, but we defeated the Golem and tried to proceed to the next level.

However, it wasn’t a staircase there.

There was a huge door.

Could this possibly be…

“The boss…?”

“Then maybe the Sirens are somewhere else—”

“No. If my thinking is correct, it’s in here.”

That old man, the examiner, had said, “Pass if you defeat the Siren and bring back its magic core.”

He didn’t say everyone would pass.

In other words — we have to defeat the boss.

When I explained this to them, both of them smiled.

They didn’t look scared; they seemed relieved.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I’m fine!”

After confirming their determination, I opened the door.

It was like the sea in there, with a huge rock in the center.

The surroundings formed a path to run around, but it seemed suspicious.

At the center, playing a tune, was a massive Siren.

Its song distorts magic energy. It can actually stop incantations and drastically reduce the damage dealt by swords infused with magic.

I had informed them of this beforehand.

If even one of the teammates dies, there’s a possibility we won’t pass.

“Here… This is where we adapt on the fly. — You two, spread out!”

And so, our first boss battle began.