Itâs been a few more days since I got serious about conquering the dungeon.
I thought that I was about to reach the deepest part of the dungeon, and I was right, for now I was feeling the presence of The Sub-God of The End, the core of the dungeon, in the huge hall that I thought was the lowest level.
In the hall, you can see the tip of a huge root that must belong to the World Tree, and the strange movement of mana that keeps eroding it.
The flow of mana seems to be sending the abundant power of the World Tree to the core, The Sub-God of The End, and it seems to be gradually flowing to the innermost part as particles of light.
Maybe this is the reason why the Brave can not defeat this sub-god for a long time.
After all, the opponent keeps supplying unlimited nutrition from World Tree, even if they attack it, it will recover and there is no end to it.
Jean, the mysterious super demon, seemed to feel the same way and, unusually for him, seemed to respect his opponent for using this strategy.
âWell, I thought he was just a newborn sub-god, but he seems to be more intelligent than I thought⊠Even if he canât match the Brave party who have advanced before him in terms of strength at the moment, if he play a war of attrition, they will eventually pull away and he can buy more time. No matter how strong the Brave are, they are only human. If they continue to fight without any supplies, they will eventually reach their limit.â
Thatâs right.
And thatâs the same for us.
Therefore, I realized that using force against the sub-god of the end would not be an effective way and would only make the situation worse.
Therefore, the most effective way is to induce the sub-god to release his aggressive stance.
As long as that sub-god is wielding his power for no apparent reason, I know how to defeat him.
Aware of this, I tell my companions about my plan.
âOur current objective is to conquer the Sub-God at the core of this dungeon, of course there will be fightingâŠ. But we donât have to defeat him. Mizzet is in the rear guard, protecting Kuroko-san and buy some time.â
âWhat do you mean? If we donât defeat this dungeon master, whatâs the point?â
Iâve already mentioned the conclusions, but theyâre still not convinced until they hear the key reason.
This is an natural reaction, and one that someone must surely question, given the lack of explanation from me.
Mizzet trusts me completely and I donât think sheâs really worried about anything.
However, it doesnât mean she can neglecting to communicate with the operation, itâs not warrior way.
This aspect makes me realize that she is at the top of her level as a Paladin.
âCkckck, use your head a little, Paladin.â
As soon as I opened my mouth to tell her why, Jean waited for me with his hand and told me to leave it to him.
This guy has a twisted personality, but heâs also the kind of guy who doesnât do anything for nothing.
There must be a reason for this.
In the course of her quarrel with Jean, Mizzet gradually came to understand the matter, she doesnât show any immediate anger, but simply asks back.
âYouâve got something to say. Fine, Iâll listen to what you have to say.â
âThank you. Itâs a simple matter. You want to know what his strategy, donât you? Thinking about it. Our current formation is not as strong as the Brave party. And he said he would solve the problem of the dungeon master that not even Brave could defeat.â
Speaking so far, it seems that the Mizzet also got a point.
âOh, I see what you mean. Thatâs why the goal is to capture, and not to kill.â
âThatâs what I mean. And to add to that, he is sub-god, not demon like me. In other words, heâs not an enemy of the world.â
Mizzet nods her head in agreement.
So, Jean deliberately set out to explain himself at the end to remind us that he was the enemy of the world.
But, it also misunderstanding.
I didnât say that I wouldnât kill him because he was an enemy of the world like demons.
Let me get clear this.
âIâm not going to make a fuss about demons or anything like that. In the first place, it would be selfish argument to think of demons as the enemy of the world. Thatâs not what Iâm saying. Just remember this.â
ââŠ..â
When I nudged him, his eyes widened and he froze.
I donât know why youâre surprised. If you thought we were enemies, you wouldnât be so friendly with me.
Itâs the app thatâs upset about the misuse of manna, not me, thatâs the important point.
âHa-ha-ha, I see. So thatâs what you think.â
I couldnât hear him at the end because he was mumbling to himself, but he seemed to agree with me, so that was good.
âAno, but how we get the bos without defeating him?â
Oh, Kuroko-san was left out of this story.
Sory, sorry.
I just talked about it in a different world setting.
âWell, itâs kind of like a special event. Itâs common in games, isnât it? The one that starts an event and moves on after a while in battle.â
âAh! Iâve heard of it! Iâve heard it from Kido-san, who plays games in our house!â
Hey, Kido-kun, are you just spending all your time playing games in the prestigious Onmyouji house? Is your training okay?
No, itâs fine.
Heâs a high school student, he needs a break.
Iâm a gamer in my thirties, so I had no right to complain.