23. Evading Pursuit

I returned to the fourth floor underground from the Garden and then entered the fifth floor.

This area should have Lesser Dragons and then a line of Gargoyles.

However, the corpses of dragons were scattered around, and in their place, opened treasure chests lay scattered here and there.

I hadn't defeated them, and since all the treasure chests were open, could it be Kumiko?

"This is bad..."

Could it be Kumiko or Wooser, or both of them, had overtaken me and reached this point?

No, even if they were moving together, it was too fast.

Kumiko's progress should have been up to the fourth floor underground.

Wooser, a Master-class Fighter, should have reached the sixth floor underground, but his magic rank was that of a complete newbie, a lopsided ability, so solo action would be impossible for him.

"Are they acting in a group party?"

That was possible. I proceeded while listening carefully and repeatedly using Hide, paying the utmost attention.

Most of the monsters had been dealt with, so it was easy, but since I was stealthily following a group party that was ahead, I couldn't relax.

"Whoa, we've reached the sixth floor."

In the end, I only cut down one Gargoyle before descending the stairs to the sixth floor underground.

This was the floor where Wooser had been trapped in an event, a place teeming with Mustard Dragons.

However, here too, the corpses of purple dragons lay scattered, and the treasure chests had been looted.

Just how far had those guys advanced...? As I was thinking that, a strong magical light appeared from the large hall ahead, and the din of battle could be heard.

"Haaah!" "Yaaah!"

No doubt about it, those were Wooser's and Kumiko's battle cries. I could also hear a sound like a gas burner erupting, the sound of a dragon breathing fire.

To avoid being found...

"Mid-tier middle, Darkness Dark, Night Nes."

I chanted the Darkness spell.

It had the opposite effect of the Light spell. The surroundings darkened, and the effect of Hide increased dramatically.

Kumiko and the others were desperately fighting the Mustard Dragon and didn't seem to notice me sinking into the darkness in the corner of the dungeon.

Originally, it was a spell to hide in the darkness of the underground labyrinth and prevent being discovered by monsters, but I never thought there would be a use like this.

"So, they were in a group party after all. And they can even take on two Mustard Dragons at once?"

Wooser and the others were acting together with Nanami's group.

A total of fifteen elite members led by Nanami Shuichi were facing one Mustard Dragon, while Wooser and Kumiko were facing another.

Nanami Shuichi, wielding a 'Great Shield of Holy Iron' larger than his height, continued to directly receive the Mustard Dragon's poisonous breath and fierce claw attacks.

Behind him, five girls from the Nanami Girls Special Unit were casting support magic to increase his defense and alternately handing him detox and recovery potions to heal him.

Meanwhile, the male members with strong attack power were in a formation attacking the Mustard Dragon's flank, a well-thought-out strategy.

"Yaeh!"

Mikami Naozugu, a massive man resembling an old samurai with all his hair swept back, thrust a steel long spear deep into the dragon's belly with a unique battle cry.

I see, to fight a giant dragon, he had judged that a weapon with a longer reach than a sword would be better and had switched.

As expected of the man called Peerless. Despite being in the kendo club, he had the flexibility to abandon that fighting style and skillfully wield a long weapon.

Led by the Peerless Mikami, a total of nine people, an athletic group from the sports clubs, all wielded steel-class weapons and seemed to possess considerable combat power even in Genoria.

The athletic group had the strength to crush the dragon's hard scales and the courage to face it. The basic physical prowess of the sports club elite was probably effective even in the dungeon.

They were able to fight evenly against the Mustard Dragon that had killed a third of the students in the 'Invasion' on the first floor underground.

Even so, the activities of Wooser, a Master-class Fighter, and Kumiko, a Chunin, were in a different league.

They were too fast, and none of the Mustard Dragon's attacks could hit them.

Every time Wooser kicked up into its belly with a *thud-thud*, the dragon's massive body tilted. Kumiko attacked many times with her not-so-long ninja sword, but she was stabbing the dragon's weak point, the breath sac.

Their two's movements were already beyond human.

Wooser's forceful pushing and Kumiko's skillful vital point attacks became the deciding factors, and the Mustard Dragon curled up and died.

Incidentally, as if saying, "You guys are fighting too slowly," they also finished off the dragon on Nanami's group's side.

Nanami's group, having defeated the strong enemy, breathed a sigh of relief.

However, even after defeating the dragon, the two's fight continued.

"Oops, my foot slipped, desu."

"What a coincidence, my hand slipped too."

Even after completely defeating the Mustard Dragon, Wooser didn't stop attacking.

He rolled up his long skirt and unleashed a high kick towards Kumiko. Receiving a kick with enough force to make her long hair flutter in the wind, Kumiko immediately launched a counterpunch.

Wooser, who calmly received Kumiko's punch, fluttered up like dancing while shaking his rabbit ears and large breasts, and delivered heel drops with both feet, *thud-thud*.

Kumiko, with a cool face, deflected the fierce heel drops to the left and right while aiming for Wooser's flank with a sharp hand strike in a counterattack.

Wooser, laughing as he blocked Kumiko's hand strike that cut through the air with his arm... what scary, these guys are scary.

Since they were scary even to me, Nanami's group party was frozen stiff.

"To strike your comrades, what a barbaric woman desu ne~"

"When did you ever become my comrade, you stupid rabbit!"

The two quickly kicked off the ground and distanced themselves, and a tense atmosphere, incomparable to the battle against the previous dragon, filled the air.

Was that footwork Wooser just used the Shindo (震脚) technique? Use that Master-class deadly kung fu on the dragon, why are you using it on Kumiko!

Kumiko's Venture-rank Acrobat, effortlessly dodging the attacks of a Master-class Fighter, must also be considerable.

There seemed to be a rule to fight barehanded, but a serious, all-out battle unrelated to the strategy was unfolding.

A no-holds-barred, vital-point-attacking sparring match, a vale tudo.

*Thud, thud*, even though they were just hitting each other barehanded, for some reason, hard, blunt sounds like they were hitting each other with clubs echoed through the dungeon.

"Because there was such a violent woman, the Master disliked it and ran away, desu ne!"

"Oh my, listen to the foolish bride who was abandoned on her wedding night."

"If only the jealous, zero-fertility, flat-chested hag hadn't interfered, I would have been able to reproduce with the Master a hundred times by now, desu yo!"

"Oh dear, that's why you're like this, you horny rabbit whose chest fat is taking all the nutrients. Why can't you realize that Wataru-kun, who likes big breasts, never even considered you from the start!"

Even the athletic group from the sports clubs couldn't interfere with Wooser and Kumiko, who were exchanging punches that would easily kill a normal person with a single hit.

Everyone's gaze gathered on Nanami. The only one who could mediate in this situation was the perfect leader, Nanami Shuichi.

"Won't you stop..."

Nanami, who had been cared for by the girls and had finished recovering, finally stepped in to stop them. His usually clear and crisp voice was a little hoarse.

Even from a distance, Nanami's face looked exhausted, as pale as a boxer who had fought through twelve rounds. Even if potions could restore stamina and health, they probably couldn't heal the accumulated mental fatigue.

Ten days had passed since Genocide Reality began. Nanami's dry voice and forced smile, as he tirelessly mediated these hopeless quarrels, combined with his original handsome features, gave him a unique and formidable aura.

Perhaps feeling awkward after being admonished by Nanami, who, despite being in an extreme situation where life and death hung in the balance and at the peak of mental exhaustion, still maintained a painful smile and a sincere heart.

Both of them muttered something under their breath and sheathed their weapons.

"Hmph, I had no intention of fighting from the start, desu yo. Right now, I have to hurry to the Master's side, so I don't have time to deal with a slut like you, desu."

"Me neither. I have to catch up to Wataru-kun quickly, so I didn't have time to deal with a little rabbit like you."

Kumiko, as if nothing had happened, quickly disarmed the trap on the Mustard Dragon's treasure chest, and Wooser, who had abundant dungeon knowledge, quickly sorted and distributed the loot.

It seemed that Wooser and Kumiko had priority for items useful for攻略, while Nanami's group party had priority for gold coins and jewels.

Nanami, pale as a ghost, let out a deep sigh and, without saying anything unnecessary, only muttered, "Then let's hurry ahead," before shouldering his rucksack filled with luggage and his large 'Great Shield of Holy Iron'.

Everyone followed his heavy back, like a saint carrying his cross up Golgotha, all looking equally tired. The only ones who were energetic were Wooser and Kumiko, who were nudging each other as they walked.

Hmm, it's not my fault, it's not my fault, but...

It felt really bad that even Wooser and the others were adding to the mental strain on Nanami, who was already having a hard time.

Well, it couldn't be helped. Nanami was probably born under a star that destined him to bear all the hardships of the entire Mundus world.

Even so, I understood why Wooser and Kumiko, who were chasing me, were in a hurry, but why had Nanami Shuichi's group party come this far with such a forced march?

Were they trying to take advantage of Wooser's and Kumiko's enthusiasm to advance the攻略 as quickly as possible?

I thought it would be more important to go back and forth in the lower levels to increase the city's gold coins, but I didn't understand their intention to prioritize the攻略.

I had even told them about an efficient farming spot on the third floor underground so they wouldn't get in my way.

Were they leaving that to the second-string group party?

Could it be that, as Kazuha had worried, they had come all the way here looking for the missing Kazuha?

No way, I couldn't imagine the impartial and selfless Nanami Shuichi moving the student council's most elite unit party for personal reasons.

"Well, there's no use thinking about it."

Nanami and the others probably had their own reasons. Oh yeah, I forgot to give Kazuha's letter, but it could wait a little longer.

Since Nanami was taking care of Wooser and the others for me, I wanted them to keep up the good work for a while.

Now then, as for me, I could aim to get ahead and defeat the boss on the sixth floor underground, but rather, I should probably leave the sixth floor攻略 to them for now; it would also serve as a roadblock.

The truth was, on the sixth floor, if you went down from the pitfall and through the hidden door, you would reach the normal passage on the seventh floor underground, so there was no need to defeat the boss.

Was the boss on the sixth floor the Blue Serpent? There were quite a few bosses in Genoria that could be ignored.

If they read the map I carefully drew, I thought they would realize that, but since Nanami and the others weren't used to games, they might not know.

Or perhaps even if they knew, they intended to seriously defeat everything.

Even I would normally think it was heretical to go to the next floor without defeating the boss, but this time it was a competition.

Well, let's call it an unconventional cooperative play.

The Blue Serpent was just a troublesome minor boss with eight wriggling snake heads, and it didn't have any items that I, a solo samurai player, wanted. This time, I left it to Nanami and the others, who were seriously battling.

I lowered a rope into the nearest pitfall and descended to the seventh floor underground.