BXBX NOVEL Chapter 491
Maple and Sally undertook the quest and headed for the field.
Along the way, they saw an armored dragon leaving the town, carrying a player on its back.
“…Tamed Monster?”
“…I don’t think so. Want to take a look?”
“Uh-huh!”
Before heading out onto the field, the two headed towards the area where the dragon took off.
Then, they saw several kinds of animals and monsters including armored dragon and a horse that they previously rode.
“…It seems that we’ll have to rent them. The dragons are a little expensive, though.”
“Are there any prerequisites to ride them?”
“Unfortunately, some stats are a bit necessary. Although, since we’ve reached the 10th Floor, the numbers should be doable…”
Due to the extreme allocation of skills or stats that Maple had, that demand wasn’t just difficult but outright impossible to meet.
“Hehe, but it can accommodate two people.”
“Oh!”
“If you want to ride, I’ll be in front. Your status won’t be a problem, so you can go with either.”
“I guess Syrup is on hiatus.”
Syrup, who was flying in the sky with [Telekinesis], had a fairly slow movement speed. That speed wasn’t sufficient for exploring the 10th Floor.
“It’s just to speed up the exploration outside of combat. So let’s have Syrup does his best when fighting monsters.”
“Okay! Well, I rode the horse before, so let’s use the dragon!”
“Alright! The dragon should make it easier to fly and explore. Besides, I’ve always been looking forward to this.”
“That’s right!”
Although the dragon wasn’t cheap by any means, the two of them had been able to save up enough money after exploring so far.
The two climbed onto the back of a small dragon, and at Sally’s prompt, it flew into the sky.
“It’s fast!”
“This isn’t even the fastest it can go! Be careful not to fall, okay? I’ll increase speed!”
“Okay!”
It wouldn’t be a problem for Maple if she did fall. It’d be a problem if there was someone underneath her.
As Maple held on tightly, Sally led the dragon towards their destination.
After flying for a while, the two arrived at their destination, lowered their altitude, and slowly landed.
“The dragon will fly to your place at your behest! So let’s just park him somewhere safe.”
“Then we don’t have to worry about combat.”
After leaving the dragon somewhere safe, the two headed to the destination specified in the quest.
A goblin den that had been conquered several times. Monsters waited beyond the unfurling darkness. The objective was to defeat a certain number of monsters. In other words, it was a basic quest that involved subjugating the supposed minions of Demon King to maintain peace.
“Looks like we’ll have no choice but to delve in.”
“I’ll take the lead!”
The only way to defeat monsters was to enter the enemy’s base. Maple raised her tower shield and began walking in front of Sally as if to protect her.
Immediately, they saw several goblins in the back.
“Alright…”
“Maple—!”
“Huh!?”
Sally suddenly grabbed Maple and pulled her back. In the next moment, a sharp spear jutted out from the wall, crossing right in front of her. It lightly grazed Maple, scattering damage effects.
When the goblin saw that, it laughed and disappeared to the other side of the cave, as if that was its intention all along.
“Apparently, it’s a trap.”
“Ouch… Thank you, Sally.”
“Although the damage isn’t high, it’s a piercing attack.”
As difficult as it was to believe, Maple’s defense had been breached by a mere trap. Most likely, the trap was designed to kill all players in one hit.
“Even if you get hit, I think you’ll be fine as long as you can heal. However, I can’t predict how long the trap will continue to activate.”
There was no saying that defense-pierce arrows wouldn’t come flying at them from all directions. If they failed to react in time, they might get wiped out.
Since they had no choice but to proceed with caution, Sally told Maple to check the floor and walls. After pondering for a while, Maple came up with an alternative strategy.
“What if we do this instead?”
“Hmm? Do you have any plans?”
Maple told Sally the strategy she came up with, and Sally nodded several times as she thought about what she’d just heard.
“I don’t think it’s bad. There’s no risk, either. So, let’s try it out!”
“Hooray!”
“Then, let’s get ready right away.”
“Okay!”
Maple stood in front of Sally, pointed the tip of her dagger toward the depths of the den, where she knew the trap was.
Then, towards the darkness—
“[Poison Dragon]!”
—copious amounts of poisonous fluid oozed out. The purple liquid contaminated the inside of the cave, making a sloshing noise.
Maple nodded in satisfaction, before lining up as many bombs as she could from her inventory.
Iz’s special time bomb would explode on its own when the timing was right. Of course, it was a top-tier item with a lot of damage.
“I’m all set!”
“[Flash Flood]!”
Prompted by Maple, Sally summoned a tremendous amount of water that swept away dangerous substances and deadly poison deep into the den.
“[Poison Dragon]!”
“[Flash Flood]!”
Maple readied poison and Sally washed it away. The entrance of the den was the only exit, and the same place the two had entered to reach that place.
There was no scream, but the sound of poisonous current running and the rumbling of the earth from the explosion conveyed the situation inside.
“Oh! We make progress with the quest!”
“It seems that the plan is working.”
Somewhere, a goblin had died. Was it poisoned, drowned, or bombed? By submerging the entire cave in lethal poison diluted with water, the two made progress with the quest without leaving their spot.
—When they began to suspect that the dungeon was actually an eight-story dungeon…
“Ah!”
“Oh!”
“Yay! Quest cleared!”
“That easily…? Well done, we won safely.”
Something terrifying had taken place in the den, but it wasn’t like they’d be delving in anymore, so it didn’t matter. After a while, both water and poison would vanish as their effects expired.
“It was fun. Shall we go on like this? We’re a great match.”
“Let’s do that!”
“Let’s continue with that quest.”
There were some quests left. They’d clear the game quickly and aim for the final boss of the 10th
Floor—the Demon King himself. Now that the two of them had annihilated monsters without breaking a sweat, they’d be able to fight to the best of their ability next time.“It’s a bit far, so let’s fly with the dragon.”
“Okay!”
With Maple on the back, Sally rode the dragon and soared into the sky once again.
“It’d be best if we can clear one more quest.”
“Hehehe, leave it to me~”
“I’m counting on you.”
After flying over a large field for a while, they’d soon reach their destination. Due to the dragon’s excellent movement speed and the fact that it could fly, they could just ignore many monsters.
The dragon sure is amazing—!
The next place the two headed for was a desolate land full of withered trees and flowers.
“Time to land!”
“Well, based on the name of this quest, I think Maple has an advantage…”
They chose that quest mostly because of the name: ‘Eliminate the Source of Poison!’ After all, it was so self-explanatory.
When it came to poison, Maple was their best bet. After all, Maple herself was poisonous. Despite having acquired many weapons and expanded her tactics, poison was still her forte. Maple couldn’t only apply poison, but was also resistant to it.
When countered, poison became weak. Here, Maple’s combo of [Poison Immunity] and [Loving Sacrifice] could be used to block it.
In front of the two, a purple mist erupted from the cracks that riddled the grounds.
“It must be poisonous.”
“First, can you cast [Loving Sacrifice]?”
“Okay! [Loving Sacrifice]!”
Wings sprouted from Maple’s back as a defensive area was manifested to absorb all attacks.
No matter how agile Sally was, there was no way she could dodge the purple mist. Therefore, Maple had no choice but to use one of her ultimate skills to deal with it.
Since they didn’t know the range of the enemy’s attack, it’d be dangerous to assume that they could simply avoid it. Well, Sally might be able to, but the fact that she didn’t push herself too hard in times like this was definitely one of the reasons why she’d been able to sustain no damage so far. As planned, it’d be best for her to rely on Maple’s strength and not push herself too hard.
“Let’s check it out.”
“I agree.”
Maple approached the crack and waited patiently for the purple mist to erupt. When it did, Maple covered her entire body with the mist. After checking the effect, she turned to face Sally, who was watching from behind.
“Looks like I’ll be fine!”
“Hmm, then you should be careful of monsters.”
“Leave it to me.”
After confirming that she was safe, the two slowly stepped into the haze.
The deeper they went, the more prevalent the cracks were. The mist that spewed around them incessantly robbed them of their visibility. Thanks to Maple, it became a simple nuisance, but players who were susceptible to poison may not even be able to walk properly.
“Amazing… It’s as if we’re inside the purple mist…”
“I guess the mist can’t be avoided. You made the right call to use that skill.”
Something finally appeared in front of the two as they slowly advanced.
Encroaching them were four snakes with scales bearing the same color as the mist. The snake itself wasn’t as gigantic as Haku, but its several-meter body was as thick as Maple and Sally’s bodies. The snake could probably wrap around them.
Once they got entangled, it’d be difficult to break free. The two understood that right away. Wordlessly, they quickly stood back to eliminate any blind spots.
The purple snake suddenly pounced on the two, who quickly braced for battle using the movements that had been ingrained in them from the many battles they had accumulated over the years.
Even if she got hit, Maple would protect her. Knowing that, Sally accurately saw through the snake’s attack.
“[Icicle]!”
She wouldn’t allow Maple to get in a risky situation just because of her.
She launched one snake with a pillar of ice, then transformed her weapon into a sledgehammer, slamming it onto the head of another snake, knocking it back.
Behind Sally, who effectively dealt with two snakes, Maple swung her large shield and instantly wiped out the snake in front of her.
It was a completely different attack from Sally’s. It was a swift attack using [Evil Eater].
There was no need for thorough planning or complicated movements. Once they saw through the enemy’s movement, it was over.
However, Maple couldn’t handle all the enemy as precise as Sally. Despite having slayed one snake instantly, the remaining snake jumped from her side and bit Maple’s torso.
“…Ey—!”
To bite meant to come close. [Evil Eater] still had some uses left. Therefore, attack equals death. It took less than a few seconds for the tower shield that was pressed tightly to swallow the snake thanks to [Evil Eater].
“Phew…”
No damage. If they fought at equal distance, Maple would be superior.
“I’ll take care of the rest. Save the rest for the boss.”
“Okay!”
As long as the two were together, Sally could handle them. Maple was relieved and tried to use [Machine God] to provide support.
—At that moment, a chunk of Maple’s HP was shaved off.
“Eh?”
“[Water Path]!”
When Sally grasped the situation, she wrapped Maple with her thread, before swimming right above her, taking Maple with her.
“[Leap]!”
Sally created a foothold in the air and used it as a starting point to jump and fly higher into the sky. She broke through the purple haze, and when she could no longer see the snake, she pulled the string that connected Maple to her and carried Maple in her arms as she leaped up.
“[Heal]!”
“Syrup [Awakening] [Super Enlarge] [Telekinesis]!”
Maple’s response was also good timing. Understanding Sally’s intentions, she summoned Syrup, and immediately enlarged him. They eventually landed on top of his shell.
Although safety landing was ensured in this way, Maple was confused as to why her HP had decreased.
“W-where did the damage come from…?”
“Calm down. I’ll heal you right away, so let’s check your status.”
Sally took out the potion and asked Maple to confirm the situation in detail.
“Uhm… Huh? Poison…?”
Maple realized that she was poisoned. But she hadn’t been afflicted with poison for a long time! Her eyes widened when she saw that status ailment for the first time in a while.
“Poison, right? Then, it’s a status ailment.”
Sally took out a certain potion and used it on Maple. The poison was gone almost instantly.
“—Ah, this might be it! My poison resistance is decreasing!”
It was like a decline in status, which was different from status ailment. Maple’s [Poison Resistance] seemed to be weakening for the next few minutes.
“I see, I guess the snake’s attack from earlier has a resistance-lowering effect. As a result, you took damage from the poison mist.”
“If so, I mustn’t get hit by the snake again.”
“Right. Either block or dodge it. The monsters are becoming more powerful.”
“In that case, even if I’m resistant to it, I may not be completely safe.”
“You can amplify your resistance with Iz’s items and some buffs.”
Like Maple, many players had resistance to poison. These days, poison could be dealt with to some extent. In that case, it wouldn’t be surprising if a monster that specialized in status ailments and techniques that couldn’t be blocked to appear.
“Maybe it’s better to keep that in mind. That way, you won’t have to worry about it when the time comes.”
“Understood!”
“I don’t think it’s all bad, either.”
“…?”
“If the enemy can use it, I won’t be surprised if there’s a resistance lowering skill somewhere. Maybe Maple can acquire that skill…”
If so, the poison attacks that she’d been using exclusively to grant instant death through [Poisonous Curse, as well as the paralyzing attacks that had powerful binding abilities, would likely regain their original brilliance.
“That makes sense!”
“Of course, it wouldn’t be strange if other players use it, so be careful.”
“Yeah! Ah, then let’s try and catch that snake!”
“…?”
“If I eat it, I might obtain a skill!”
“Ah—well, it’s a snake. Okay, let’s leave one alive and try to catch it.”
Is it okay to eat a snake?
Although Sally narrowed her eyes somewhat skeptically, she agreed and decided to wait for Maple’s [Poison Resistance] to revert to normal before heading out to capture the snake.