Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 5 (5 page)

Her arms were draped around the shoulders of two other party members, the tips of her feet dragging on the ground as they ran. The stone tomahawk was still buried in her shoulder blade, her armor and clothing dyed a deep bloodred. The shallow rise and fall of her chest was the only proof that she was still alive.

Mikoto grimaced at the state of her poor ally. She could barely breathe when their eyes met.

The normally shy girl’s cloudy eyes were partially hidden by her bangs, but the expression on her face said only one thing:
Sorry
.

Mikoto shook her head.

“…Not good.”

“What is it?”

“More monsters. Now there are hellhounds chasing us…!”

“…!”

The rear watchman’s warning made everyone break out in a cold sweat.

Mikoto took a glance behind her only to see the group of Al-Miraj bounding toward them accompanied by four dark, dog-shaped shadows with glowing red eyes.

It was not difficult for the adventurers to visualize their own bodies burned to smoldering cinders, just looking at the monsters’ hot breath.

The true extent of the Dungeon’s darkness and despair flashed before Mikoto’s eyes.

“Move!”

All of them pushed their bodies even harder at Ouka’s command. Everyone knew Death had them cornered. Even Mikoto was running with everything she had.

At last the cavern came to an end and they emerged into a room. This room wasn’t square, but a massive dome.

The ceiling was unbelievably high. There was a stone hanging precariously from its highest point in the center. It looked as though the slightest vibration could send it crashing to the floor below. The
walls were extremely rough and full of holes. All the scraps of rock on the ground could mean only one thing: a swarm of monsters had just been born.

The sounds of the fierce battle echoed through this wide space that any party could use to its advantage.

Are they…a
Familia
new to this area?

A small battle party was trying to fend off a group of monsters on one side of the room.

A group of three, two human men and a prum girl by the looks of them. Mikoto had never seen a battle party like that in all of her trips to the thirteenth floor.

She reasoned that today must be one of their first trips to the middle levels.

“…We’re going over there.”

“?!”

Mikoto’s body lurched as if Ouka’s words had been a slap in the face.

No one in the group had to ask. They knew what he was planning to do.

A “pass parade.”

It was a strategy used inside the Dungeon. Simply put, it was a way for one battle party to escape from a monster by passing it off to another battle party that happened to be nearby.

There was an unwritten rule that battle parties made as little contact with one another as possible in the Dungeon, but everyone accepted that there were times when sacrifices were necessary to protect something important. Accidents happened every day in the Dungeon, and using another party was one way to get your own out of a sticky situation.

“Please reconsider, Captain Ouka?! If we do that, then those people…”

Executing a pass parade now would mean the small party of adventurers would become that “sacrifice.”

She could tell that that party was struggling as it was. They were trying to fend off a large pack of Al-Miraj just as Mikoto had done only moments ago.

They would be overwhelmed if any more monsters joined the fray. Should the pack chasing
Takemikazuchi Familia
get too close…

“Your lives are far more important to me than some random people.”

“…!”

“If it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you can scold me to your heart’s content when we get out of this.”

Ouka’s decision was final. Mikoto’s face looked like that of a child who’d realized her parents had disappeared.

She looked back at her allies.

They were in dire straits. Most were covered in blood, their breathing shallow and staggered as they sprinted for their lives.

Their
Familia
’s emblem glinted dark red beneath a splattering of fresh blood.

Mikoto was on the verge of tears for the first time since this ordeal started.

…I’m so sorry!

It was too late to change their route now. They were close enough to see the whites of the other adventurers’ eyes.

She caught the gaze of a white-haired boy as he sliced through one of the rabbits and tried her best to communicate a heartfelt apology.

Bell could hear, could feel all of the Al-Miraj coming at them from all angles.

The continuous onslaught of monsters didn’t allow for a moment of hesitation.

“Not even enough time to breathe, eh?”

“Then don’t talk!”

Welf swung his large blade, sweat flying everywhere, as Lilly delivered the final blow to a monster with a well-placed arrow.

Bell was fighting very well despite being completely surrounded.

With the exception of Agility, Welf’s Status was greater than or equal to the Al-Miraj. He fought on the front lines with Lilly’s
support. It was Bell’s job to make sure that they didn’t get flanked by taking out as many of the monsters as he could.

Most of the rabbits fell to a single slice from Bell’s blades. It didn’t take the monsters long to figure out that it was useless to take him head-on. His speed and power were just a little bit higher than the average Level 2 adventurer.

“Welf, get down!”

“Gotcha!”

Seeing that Welf was about to be hit from two sides, Bell jumped to his aid.

Bell flew over the back of his kneeling friend, slicing one Al-Miraj in half with the blade in his right hand and slamming the side of his buckler into the head of another.

That was too close…!

The boy might have been holding his own, but his mind was racing.

Fatigue was beginning to catch up with him. His limbs had never felt this heavy at any time in the upper levels.

Of course the most powerful member of an unbalanced party had to carry the largest workload in combat, but the increase in number and intelligence of the monsters in the middle levels served to make that burden even harder to bear.

Bell was starting to realize just how little endurance he had. Another second and he would have been too late to save Welf. That thought sent a drip of cold sweat down his face. He was going to need a rest, and soon.

…?

Bell saw something strange out of the corner of his eye as he watched Welf deliver the final blow to the dazed Al-Miraj.

It was a party of five—no, six adventurers. The members of a different
Familia
came closer and closer by the second.

Bell raised his eyebrows in confusion. Battle parties preferred to avoid as much contact as possible in the Dungeon to avoid problems on the surface. He could understand if they were heading directly toward the exit, but their current path would bring them
very close
.

Almost as though they were targeting him.

“—”

The heavily damaged battle party was coming toward them on purpose.

They passed within a stone’s throw of Bell on their way by. He happened to catch the eyes of the girl with a glossy black ponytail.

Blue velvet eyes on the verge of tears locked with ruby-red ones for a brief moment.

“—?! Oh no! They led more to us!”

Meanwhile.

Lilly was the only one able to respond to the other battle party’s actions and tried to warn her allies.

She had experienced this very same tactic during her time as a thief. She knew this practice all too well.

“Huh…?”

“We’ve been used as a decoy! More monsters are coming!”

Lilly practically screamed at Bell’s dumbstruck face.

A moment later, just as she predicted, another swarm of monsters appeared in the room.

There was almost double the number of Al-Miraj they had been fighting, as well as a few hellhounds coming at them. The color instantly drained from Bell’s and Welf’s faces.

Bell spun around just in time to see the last member of the other
Familia
disappear through the room’s exit.

“Retreat! Mr. Welf, the tunnel to your right! Move!!”

“What the—You’ve got to be kidding?!”

Bell’s battle party scrambled in confusion.

Fear was beginning to rear its ugly head. Welf wildly swung his broadsword in front of him. The blade didn’t cut through the Al-Miraj blocking his path, but it was strong enough to force the monster out of his way. The tunnel entrance now clear, he followed Lilly’s orders and dove straight in.

Bell and Lilly weren’t far behind.

We can’t get away…!

The tunnel path slowly widened before them as Lilly came to a sudden realization. Bell would have to hold them off.

These monsters were faster. While Bell might be able to get away, it was a given that a supporter with a weak Status had no chance in one of the middle levels’ connecting tunnels.

The pack of monsters formed a line, bared fangs flashing in the dark. None of them could tell how many monsters were there—the beasts were kicking up enough dust to hide their numbers. It was a sight that would make any normal person collapse on the spot.

Bell chanced another look over his shoulder as he ran next to Lilly. It was as though a nightmare had come to life.

“Mr. Bell?!”

“Hey, Bell!”

“I’ll catch up!”

The decision was made in a flash.

Ignoring Lilly’s and Welf’s objections, Bell turned his back to them.

Basically, he spun 180 degrees.

He planted his feet and squared his shoulders in the face of the oncoming wave of monsters.

He raised his shielded left arm straight out and took a deep breath.

“Firebolt!”

He unleashed three rounds of his Magic straight down the narrow tunnel.

The rocky pathway was filled with three pillars of flaming electricity in the blink of an eye. The whole path was illuminated in violet flames, incinerating everything in their path.

A blast of hot air expanded from the sea of flames. Using this kind of Magic in such a small space was technically illegal in the Dungeon due to the high possibility of other adventurers taking damage, but these were desperate times.

Bell lowered his arm, his body illuminated by the flames.

Shadows danced on his face for a moment before—his eyes shook with fear.

Four shadows emerged from the wall of flame.

It didn’t finish them?!

The hellhounds survived.

Every other monster in the swarm was burning. Their seared
carcasses littered the floor of the tunnel. Perhaps because hellhounds had the ability to spit fire themselves, they also had an unusually high resistance to fire magic.

Their crimson eyes cloudy, bodies decorated with fresh wounds, the group of demonic dogs hacked the ash out of their lungs and released a ferocious howl in unison.

“
OWooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO!!
”

“!”

They launched themselves at Bell in a vicious rage. He was quick to dispose of the first one with a swipe of his shortsword and knocked the second one into the air with his shield.

But the remaining two ran right past him.

“Lilly, Welf—!”

Completely ignoring the white-haired boy, the two beasts had their eyes set on the other two adventurers farther down the tunnel.

Lilly and Welf took emergency action as Bell’s warning came echoing off the walls.

Lilly did a half turn. Her best chance to survive the initial assault was to use the broadsword attached to her backpack as a shield.

Welf took a defensive stance and raised his own sword high above his head.

“—Garrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

“Aggh?!”

“Come get some!”

Impact.

The sword on Lilly’s backpack successfully repelled the hellhound’s tackle, but she wasn’t strong enough to stay on her feet, so she fell to the floor.

Welf’s powerful swing missed its intended target.

The other hound had Lilly pinned down, standing on top of her backpack and snapping its jaws just above her head. Bell flew in from out of nowhere and kicked the dog to the side after disposing of the one that came after him.

The kicked dog hit the ground hard, its body broken at the same moment that the hellhound that dodged Welf’s attack collapsed.

“Are you guys okay?!”

“Y-yes…”

“Somehow…Damn.”

Lilly dusted herself off as she stood up. Welf smirked a thin, pained smirk as he grabbed his arm. The hound’s claws must’ve hit their mark; long streaks of fresh blood ran down his forearm.

The pain of knowing he hadn’t been able to protect his allies pierced Bell from within. However, what he saw behind Lilly and Welf made his blood run cold.

“T-there’s more!”

The boy could see the shadows of several monsters making their way up the tunnel from the other side.

At the same time, Lilly saw even more shadows coming from behind Bell and said in a very raspy voice:

“Pincer attack…”

“Well, isn’t that depressing…”

A pack of Al-Miraj had made its way through the burned hallway, all the way up to their current position.