Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 48
Before I could even recover from the shock of that magic, we’d already stepped into the upper layer in the blink of an eye.
I’d never even been to Zelkis, let alone the royal capital, and yet I felt nothing in particular.
My companions were just too strong.
That said, this is the upper layer.
The shallows are probably about one square kilometer, but apparently this upper layer is almost the same size as the royal capital.
So, just under four kilometers across.
Maybe you could think of it as grassland partitioned by earthen walls into areas about twice the size of a soccer field?
The shallows were either paved or bare earth, but visibility was good.
Here, though, there are rises and dips, rocks scattered around, and grass growing underfoot.
The walls may be about thirty meters high, but unless you can fly like me, that doesn’t really mean much.
All right—stay sharp.
“Sera! I need 【Prayer】.”
Just as I was going Hmph! and psyching myself up, Alec placed an order for 【Prayer】.
So I psyched myself up too, and fired it off with a heave-ho.
“This is… a blessing?”
“With Sera’s blessing, your physical ability and mana increase. And it also provides a constant recovery effect.”
Alec’s explaining it, but apparently 【Prayer】 boosts mana too.
Since I can’t use magic, I have no idea how much of an impact that has, but if Luban’s stuff is magic, this could get nasty…
“…You’re like some kind of Demon King Type—ow?!”
The moment he muttered that after hearing the effect, Luban got punched.
A Demon King Type.
More precisely, a Demon King Type, but it’s not like some evil final boss plotting world domination or humanity’s extinction.
It’s simply a special individual that appears extremely rarely among monsters.
Of course they’re strong, but what’s worse is their trait: apparently they strengthen monsters and beasts within their territory, regardless of species.
For example, one wolf.
Normally, a single hunter could take it down, and even ordinary villagers could manage if there were three of them.
But in a Demon King Type’s territory, it’s different.
That one wolf can inflict catastrophic damage on a village.
That’s why you have to deal with it quickly, but their territory can be something like an entire mountain—on a completely different scale from my 【Prayer】.
It continues until the Demon King Type is defeated, and since you can’t tell by appearance, even if a subjugation force is formed, it can slip away, establish a new territory elsewhere, and repeat the cycle… a phenomenon called a “Demon King calamity,” and the reason they’re feared as “Demon Kings.”
Even though the scale is different, because they can appear suddenly regardless of whether there are many monsters or few, it’s one of the reasons the profession of adventurer doesn’t disappear—not just within the Alliance, but in the western nations as well.
Come to think of it, these guys have taken down Demon King Types on their own…
Demon King Types apparently don’t appear in dungeons, but even if something absurdly strong showed up, they’d probably be fine.
“Sera?”
I’d been spacing out, and it seems they’d already finished explaining and preparing.
“What we do doesn’t change. Sera, use the same approach and scout for enemies. There shouldn’t be any flying monsters, but stay cautious just in case.”
“Got it.”
“All right. Let’s go!”
◇
“We’re clear around here.”
After scanning the area and confirming there was nothing, I dropped down and reported to Luban.
“Understood. Let’s rest a bit.”
It’s been about an hour since we started exploring the upper layer.
The encounters really are more frequent than in the shallows.
There are more monsters per encounter, and above all, they’re stronger.
We fought a pack that looked like oversized wolves several times, and they even used coordination.
On top of that, another pack joined in partway through.
We’d had similar situations in the shallows, but at most they’d just rush in all at once—these ones are different.
Despite being separate packs, they use decoys, try to flank… I don’t know if they’re smart or if it’s a species trait, but with this group we can take them down without any danger, though I think it would be risky if you weren’t used to it.
“We’ve killed quite a number, but… it’s not showing up. Is it usually like this?”
We’ve taken down a good number by now, but we still haven’t run into the giant deer—our target this time.
I’d heard they’re usually in groups of two or three and try to flee immediately, making them a hassle, but not running into them at all feels… off.
“Encounter rates can vary, but… this is a bit extreme. The overall number of monsters isn’t different from usual, though. What do we do? Want to try changing locations?”
A discussion started—whether to change locations, keep going as we are, or push deeper.
We’d been running and fighting nonstop, one way or another, so this is a good time for a break.
I’ve basically just been floating this whole time, so I still have plenty of leeway—I’ll take the watch.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sera・【Hideout】【Prayer】・【Floating Orb】【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】・8 cards
Seriana・【Range Identification】・【】・13 cards
Elena・【】・【Green Fang】・0 cards
Alec・【】・【Red Shield】・1 card
Comments
Post a Comment