Volume 2 - CH 20

【Magic Sword《Sword of the Dawn Sky》】

I woke up as the dungeon stampede broke into the third day, and B-rank monsters began to mix at the back with the monsters that appeared.

Starting with the land dragon we knew, monsters from the 25th floor up that had been written about in older sources started to show up.

For these B-rank monsters, multiple C-rank parties joined together to make a single B-rank party, but B-rank parties stayed together as themselves.

Teto dealt with B-rank monsters alone, while I filled a C-rank party.

「I’m going. ——《Psychokinesis》《Hard Shoot》!」

I used flying magic to fly into the sky, where I gathered the broken iron blades I had used to kill the hydra and shot them at the same time with hardening magic.

The monster pierced by the iron blades was sewn to the ground and couldn’t move properly.

Then, I fired iron blades at the next monster in the same way. This slowed down the monsters' invasion and sent them after the C-rank adventurers, making it safe for them to hunt.

(T/N: v1c27-28 if you wanna check again, though pretty sure Chise left those guillotine pieces underground…maybe she’s just talking about the method…?)

「Then, that starts it for this monster」

I sewed a B-rank or higher monster or something that was probably from the 25th floor and beyond to the ground with an iron blade. However, because it was stronger than the other monsters it tried to forcefully pull it out, but—

「——《Gravity》」

The blade that had been pulled out was sewn to the ground again with the weight magic, and the monster was bound once again.

「It’s a bother if you can move, so ——《Thunder Bolt》!」

Lightning fell on the monster from above.

Under normal circumstances, you could cover the body's surface with mana to lessen the damage. However, if the electric current goes through the iron blade that went through the skin, the body would be destroyed from the inside out.

After the lightning stopped, the monster died. It dropped an iron blade, a magic stone, and other materials before it died.

「Jou-chan, it’s almost over. Just one more push」

The A-rank adventurers, led by Arsus-san, were also killing monsters one after the other.

In fact, there were no more monsters after the last B-rank monster was killed.

After these few days, monsters were no longer descending from the dungeon and each floor gave birth to the proper monsters which proved that the stampede was over.

「I wonder if this is the end……」

I muttered, and as I used magic to fly over the plains and look at the stairs on the 7th floor, something from there entered this floor.

I thought it was a new B-rank monster, but when I looked at it more closely, I saw something strong.

「Arsus-san!」

「Ah, got it! No way, it actually came out, and it’s stronger than the others!」

It was said that the monsters that would appear in the scope of this dungeon stampede were up to B-rank. However, the monster that just appeared was probably an A-rank monster.

Even though it was smaller than the five-headed hydra I killed, it might have been stronger in some ways.

「Huh, that thing’s dangerous. C-rank adventurers should evacuate immediately! You guys in B-rank should put your all into physical strengthening and harden your defenses! If you’re careless for an instant, you can say goodbye to your neck and torso!」

Arsus-san, who was at the forefront, gave instructions for A-rank and B-rank adventurers to play a central role, and they began to fight the A-rank Deathsize Mantis, an insect-like monster with a glowing black shell.

(T/N: デスサイズ・マンティス desusaizu mantisu)

「Jou-chans should also escape to the surface! And endure until the end of the stampede! If you’re lucky, this guy won’t head up to the surface and return to the depths of the dungeon!」

「No, Teto and I are staying. Isn't it better to have as much power to fight as you can?」

After a few days with a series of stampede battles and the battle with the last B-rank monster, all of the adventurers were wounded. The ones who still had some energy to spare were Teto and I. It was the same with Arsus-san’s party.

Also, if we were lucky, it wouldn't be able to get to the surface, but if we weren't, it would be like letting it loose and causing disaster at the surface.

And on the surface, there were children in the orphanage. So we definitely had to end everything in the dungeon.

「Understood. Then, let’s go!」

As soon as we decided on this plan, the Deathsize Mantis, which was more than twice as big as a person and had strange eyes on its triangular head, spread its wings and flew towards us.

「Teto, I’ll defend!——《Earth Prison》!」

「Roger nodesu!」

I also landed on the ground, and manipulating the ground with Teto, we surrounded the Deathsize Mantis with double and triple layers of stone. However, the Deathsize Mantis, with a shake of its hands’ sickles, tore it apart without any resistance.

「It’s really a stalemate, but——」

The Deathsize Mantis was hit by a lot of long-range attacks from the wizard, Lena-san and the elf, Rafilia with the bow and arrow.

My view was obstructed by the aftermath of the magic, but if I continued to detect it with mana, I could feel that the mana covering the Deathsize Mantis’s body was decreasing.

「Come!」

「I’m next!」

The Deathsize Mantis appeared after cutting through the aftermath of the magic.

When it was attacked by top adventurers, one of the wings on its back fell off, but it didn't lose its will to fight.

Then, the sword of Arsus-san and the sickle of the Deathsize Mantis met, intensely clashing together.

For the Deathsize Mantis taking trouble to attack, Arsus-san was barely able to prevent it, but was unable to shift to attacking.

While Arsus-san was drawing the Deathsize Mantis's attention, other adventurers also tried to attack it, but their swords slipped on the hard shell and couldn't do any damage.

Teto's sword attack was the only one that could break through the shell and deal damage.

「If it goes like this—!」

Arsus-san, who had repeated clashes with the Deathsize Mantis, felt mana gather on the sickles of the Deathsize Mantis’s hands and drew back in a hurry.

And Arsus-san, who barely avoided the attack that was swung with a margin as thin as paper, had his magic sword broken in half.

「Teto, take over Arsus-san’s position!」

「Understood nodesu!」

Teto jumped in to stop the Deathsize from attacking, and Arsus-san, whose magic sword was cut off at the middle, stared at the weapon in a daze.

「Arsus, are you okay!?」

「……My sword… it’s broken.」

His friends were worried, and Arsus-san was agitated by fatigue and the breakage of his weapon.

The spiritual pillar for the stampede, the A-rank party【Sword of the Dawn】’s Arsus and his magic sword, had been broken.

The agitation spread to other B-rank adventurers, and Arsus-san, who immediately came to his senses, issued instructions.

「I don’t have a means of attack anymore! The only way to fight now is with the magicians’ attacks! Draw it briefly and bring it down with long-ranged magic! Adventurers, pull back a floor at a time and prepare for the magician’s volley!」

While the other adventurers slowly went back, Teto was the only one who could stop the Deathsize Mantis at the moment, so I stayed.

「Then, Chise-jou-chan and Teto-jou-chan should also leave! I’ll buy a bit more time!」

「Wait, even if your favorite sword is broken, it’s not like you can’t use a spare sword or something!」

Lena-san objected Arsus-san’s decision.

「Then, can we still end it by leaving it to Teto-jou-chan? For those girls who still have a future, aren’t I an A-rank? Here is my spirit in death to buy time!」

Arsus-san had decided on a tragic and heroic resolution.

In the meantime, Teto and the Deathsize Mantis continued to exchange attacks, and with the swing of the sickle with an increase in mana, Teto’s magic sword was also broken.

「Oh, ohh? Orya?」

Maybe it learned from when it failed to kill Arsus-san, but with its second blow, it split Teto's body in half at the torso, which had been strengthened with a lot of mana.

「Kuh, I decided too late, now Teto-jou-chan is……」

「Hey, Arsus-san. If you have a weapon, can you beat it?」

I asked in a light tone. (T/N: Chise’s just trolling now)

In contrast to the tragic act of those who were heroically prepared to challenge it, it would have been easy for me to get rid of it with overwhelming magic power.

However, men have a thing called pride.

So, I also wanted to set up the situation.

「What are you saying?」

「Answer me. If you have a weapon, can you win?」

Arsus-san looked back at me suspiciously. Recognizing that I hadn’t gone crazy with the fall of my partner Teto, Arsus-san nodded powerfully.

「Yes, I can win. No, I will win and remove the grudge of Teto-jou-chan!」

「Then I’ll create an especially good magic sword.——《Creation》!」

When I made the last giant guillotine, I used 100,000 mana. This time, I would use 300,000 mana, which was three times as much.

When I took the magic stones out of the magic bag and threw them around, a lot of magic light came out, gathered together, and turned into a golden light that resembled the light of dawn.

The Deathsize Mantis, which felt the enormous mana, was in the middle of retreating in fright when the magic sword was completed.

「This is something like a《Sword of the Dawn Sky》」

(T/N: Title drop. Also, this dawn is 暁天 gyouten rather than the 暁 akatsuki in the party title Sword of the Dawn, so I translated it like this to show the difference :D)

This magic sword could not be broken, it could boost physical abilities, and it could also make light blades.

Surely it was a suitable magic sword for the【Sword of the Dawn】, Arsus-san..

「Right. With this I’ve paid back the debt of helping out the children.」

「What the, this sword……Ah, geez, I don’t know anymore! But——」

Picking up the magic sword I gave him and roughly scratching his head with his other free hand, the moment the sword reached his hand he discovered it was incomparably more powerful than his previous sword.

「Ah! I can do it, I can definitely do it!」

Then, picking up the sword and having his priest-like companion cast supporting magic, he slashed at the Deathsize Mantis.

Up until recently, it was only used for defense but taking the initiative now with the benefit of the enhanced physical strengthening, the light sword created by passing mana through the sword bisected the carapace as if burning it.

「This is, the end!」

The sickles on both hands of the Deathsize Mantis were cut off rather disappointingly, and the torso was bisected, with the sword swung again at the head of the somehow still living Deathsize Mantis, burning its head with the blade of light.

So, the chaos in Dungeon City came to an end, and the A-rank party【Sword of the Dawn】got the magic sword 【Sword of the Dawn Sky】.

NOTE: changing wizards in all previous chapters to magicians because it also includes witches. Which feels separate from wizards. Not a big change, but tell me if you guys wanna have if changed back ;p