82 Part 2

— Is there anything at all I can do…?

Haruki frantically exercised his brains while pushing back his own impatience.

But there was no time for thinking.

Karen kept backing off as she fired lightning bolts.

Her back ended up against a wall.

“Karen–!!”

Haruki’s voice was drowned in the sea of Werewolves in front of him.

He desperately tried to make his way squeezing through the monsters.

But he wasn’t getting any faster.

And even if he managed to break through them, the deer was still ahead.

“Out of the way!!”

He cut away with all his strength.

But in his disarrayed state, he couldn’t cut his way open.

Haruki’s short sword was unable to cut through the deer’s hide.

His attack had been repelled as if he had hit a steel wall.

Instead of getting closer, they were getting even farther away from each other.

A Werewolf in front of Karen raised his fist, and…

— Karen!!

The Werewolf was split in two.

“… Huh?”

Suddenly, an adventurer with a brillant presence appeared.

With a single swing of his greatsword, he cut through five Werewolves.

“Oh ho! If these guys have given you this much trouble, then this is surely going to be interesting!”

The adventurer with a brilliant presence that appeared was a man with a large build holding a greatsword of Ichibishi’s “Ichi” series.

“… Kagemitsu!!”

* * * * * * * * *

【Admin】Chat Room【Restricted】

Masatsugu★ entered the room.

Bacon★ entered the room.

Shigure★ entered the room.

Bacon★: Yo

Masatsugu★: Yo

Shigure★: Hello

Bacon★: Did you make it safely into Shinjuku, Shigure?

Shigure★: Yes, no problem

Bacon★: I thought you weren’t planning to come to Shinjuku, though

Shigure★: My team members were angry, so I had to reconsider

Bacon★: Pfft lol

Shigure★: …

Masatsugu★: How much do you know about the Stampede, Shigure?

Shigure★: I have a rough idea

Masatsugu★: I’ll explain just in case then

The boss now is a rare species of deer that uses a special attack

If you get hit by that attack, your movements will be restricted

That’s what happened to Bacon

Bacon★: Yeah

I couldn’t move at all

It feels just like the cramps you get after working out hard!

Masatsugu★: I don’t know anything about that though…

Shigure★: Like a curse?

Masatsugu★: Dunno

There were many monsters of the same color swarming around

So it’s possible that they were using some sort of trance-inducing skill

I gave all of my medicine to Bacon

The only one that worked was the Universal Medicine

Bacon★: Wait, wasn’t it the protein shake?

Masatsugu★: No, sorry

Bacon★: Ah, I see

Masatsugu★: So, it took quite a while for the symptoms to be totally gone

I gathered all of the Universal Medicine I could by the time Shigure got here

Bacon★: It took quite some time to get the necessary amount huh

Shigure★: I see

So, what do I do?

Masatsugu★: Surround the boss and attack at once

Bacon★: You need to watch out for that purple lump it shoots at you

You’ll be unable to move the moment it touches you

Masatsugu★: I tried fighting it as well

It’s insanely fast and swords can’t cut it

But we can’t afford to just dodge it

Its attacks could hit other fellow adventurers

We need to deflect it into the ground with our weapons while we attack

Only the three of us might be able to accomplish that

So that’s what I’ll be expecting from us all

Shigure★: zzz

Masatsugu★: Don’t fall asleep

I’m sorry for the other rankers, but I’ll deal with the small fry

Otherwise the number of victims will only increase

Bacon★: Be careful not to let too many small fry pile up at your feet

You could easily trip and fall

Masatsugu★: A word of advice from someone with experience, I see

Bacon★: …

Shigure★: haha

Bacon★: !?

Masatsugu★: Alright then, let’s proceed with the plan

Bacon★: Yes!

Shigure★: Understood

Shigure★ has left the room.

Bacon★ has left the room.

Masatsugu★: I’m keeping this chat log saved

If the operation fails and we end up dying

Please refer to this chat and take the appropriate measures

To the remaining Rankers: don’t give up hope

Keep looking forward towards the future of Japan

I’m counting on you

* * * * * * * * *

For a moment, Haruki forgot he was in a battlefield, putting his life on the line, and was overcome with great joy for Kagemitsu’s appearance.

“But why are you here!?”

“What are you talking about? Wouldn’t you come running to help a brother in a pinch?”

He called him “brother”, but the sentiment was one-sided.

Haruki wanted to gain a strong presence, while Kagemitsu wished to be less noticeable.

Both of them wanted something they didn’t have.

But their goals were completely opposite.

There was no way they could be considered as “brothers”.

But for now, Haruki just nodded at Kagemitsu.

“Ah, you may be like a brother to me, but you’ll still pay the request fee, right?”

“…”

Correction.

Brothers don’t talk about money in a life-or-death situation.

The battlefield became much more stable since Kagemitsu had jumped in to help Karen, who had been cornered against the dungeon’s wall.

Kagemitsu was a Greatsword user.

That kind of weapon was usually disadvantageous when fighting a Monster Parade.

But even though it was a poor choice, Kagemitsu skillfully used it to slaughter the Werewolves.

Even though they were monsters from the 15th floor, since they were robbed of their innate semi-human ability to think, they were no better than training dolls.

An experienced adventurer like Kagemitsu could not be overwhelmed by their unplanned advance.

“I don’t think it’s very brotherly to show up out of nowhere and start asking for money.”

“You may be like a brother to me, but a job is a job. Besides, you’re always shoving me off, aren’t you? At least humor me a little.”

“Alright then, you better earn your pay.”

“Hah! Of course.”