Gather Divine Coins and Gacha! - Chapter 94

 Well, well, onto the dungeon.

The day after our discussion, Alex promptly went to meet Ziglhart, and although I'm not sure exactly how the conversation went, the three of us ended up heading to the dungeon together.

By the way, his participation reward this time is the holy currency we'll acquire. The responsibility falls heavily on me since I'll be the one earning it, but since I was the one who came up with the idea and I'm confident in my own weakness, I'll manage somehow.

"They're here."

Sure enough, three days after the commemoration festival, the shallow levels are still crowded, but as we ascend to the upper levels, it's back to business as usual.

As I gaze over the entire chamber, reaching up towards the ceiling, I spot several monsters. Conveniently, there are no adventurers around.

"Zig, please use the 'Vortex.'"

Ziglhart turns towards Alex, confirming my words.

"No problem. Leave it to me."

"Alright."

With that, Ziglhart's magical power spreads throughout the entire chamber in an instant, mixing with the magical essence. As always, it's massive in scale and incredibly fast.

Furthermore, it seems that the magical essence will also serve as a radar-like function for a while. It's thanks to this that we were able to detect me when Ziglhart was far away, and also that we discovered Luban hadn't finished off the demon when we fought it. He mentioned that it only provides a basic understanding of position and shape, and strange entities like me would still require visual confirmation, but it's undeniably useful.

"Vortex!"

This time, even though I was on alert and had my eyes closed, I still felt a strong light.

By the way, this light is something I devised during my mercenary days. It doesn't have any special effects on its own, just enough to dazzle or blind someone, apparently. Still, it's effective in combat against humans and serves as a way to assert my presence on the battlefield, so I used it willingly.

It's also the origin of my nickname "Flashlight" and has proven useful as a signal before launching an attack even after becoming an adventurer.

...Am I still naive about the world after all this time?

"Alexio, Sela, I've summoned them. The vanguard should be here soon."

This magic, called Vortex Uzuto, was acquired after becoming an adventurer and apparently has the effect of attracting monsters. Moreover, it can control to some extent when and which monsters are drawn towards the user. Although it doesn't affect humans, Ziglhart, who often fights alone against monsters, can gain the upper hand consistently by using this magic to seize the initiative.

"Sela, are you ready?"

I could see the first wave approaching. Alexio stepped forward to intercept them, then glanced up at me for confirmation.

"Yeah!"

Of course, I'm ready.

This time, I'm focusing on supporting Alexio. Together with the effect of the "Red Shield," I can be sure to catch them off guard.

Piece of cake.

◇

"Alright, Akame."

Amidst the pile of monster corpses, Akame delved in to crush their cores.

It was a resounding victory.

Initially, I focused on severing their heads, but since Alexio was more stable than I anticipated, I had the luxury of switching to a strategy of crushing the cores in a single blow. Furthermore, I deliberately left some cores intact for Akame's sake.

Alexio had endured attacks from nearly 30 monsters continuously, and although he seemed somewhat fatigued as he sat down to rest, he was miraculously unharmed.

He's quite the monster himself, I must say.

"I sensed a strange presence, and here it turns out to be a burrowing serpent. ...With your protection and all, you're like a demon lord."

So, it's true after all.

"Even Ruban mentioned it... Can I call you Sela?"

"Hmph... Idiot. But seriously, your demeanor now is quite different from earlier. Is this your true nature?"

"Well, yeah. It's better than being feared by my colleagues, right?"

"Hmph, getting ahead of yourself, aren't you? So, we're done clearing out this entire hall with that last move? What's next?"

Despite his banter, he continued to spread and retract magical energy, keeping a lookout over the entire hall. Mixing mana and magic essence is quite difficult, so what's the deal with this old man?

"...Indeed. Let's move on to the next hall. We'll call it a day after that. And if we encounter any adventurers, we'll turn back."

"Hey hey... quite a lukewarm exploration, isn't it?"

It's a slightly bewildered tone.

Well, it might not be satisfying for someone who's used to going deeper into the dungeon...

"I'm only here for an hour, you know. But, don't say it like that."

Saying so, I extended my left hand towards Jighard, showing off what I had inside.

"…⁉"

He widened his eyes, looking at the three holy coins in my hand.

Not a bad reaction, huh?