"Diana, summon a Magic Guide Spirit."
"Rose, protect yourself." Dark half-rose to his feet as he spoke rapidly.
His voice was unusually steady, which made the trace of panic in Diana's heart vanish in an instant — leaving behind nothing but excitement.
She reached out, fished a Magic Guide Card from her card pouch, and immediately summoned.
Rose, on the other hand, took half a step back. Her face wore a hint of timidity, but the way she drew her card was still steady enough.
Running into a pack of monsters inside the dungeon was a perfectly normal occurrence.
The main thing was that people who had thought it over carefully beforehand would, by and large, have prepared themselves mentally.
As for whether they would panic when actually faced with the encounter, that came down to each individual's mental fortitude.
Dark didn't begin his own summon right away. Instead, he stole a glance at Diana and Rose.
The Magic Guide Spirit Diana had opened with was, sure enough, her most beloved three-star Magic Guide Spirit — the "[Bear Spirit]"!
As a member of the Undead Species, the [Bear Spirit] had an immunity to physical damage — making it especially effective against monster packs that relied on tooth and claw to attack.
Truly a very correct choice.
Rose, on the other hand, had summoned a Magic Guide Spirit that Dark had never seen before — and one that wasn't even her beloved rabbit-type spirit, either.
Dark had been under the impression all along that she was keeping a whole rabbit warren in reserve…
But what she had ultimately summoned out was a sphere that was pitch-black through and through.
A divine sort of light seemed to flow around the sphere, and there wasn't a single other marking on it anywhere — you couldn't even tell whether it was a Magic Guide Spirit at all.
Rose seemed to see his confusion, and hurriedly said, "It's the 'Mobius Bug.' Three-star, Insect-type, Psychic-type…"
"A Mobius Bug, huh?" Dark muttered.
"I'm not entirely sure, but from the name, it should be a defensive-type Magic Guide Spirit, right?"
Based on his trust in Rose, Dark set the matter aside for the moment, and then carefully fixed his eyes on the far end of the passage.
Just a moment later, the sound that had required focused attention to hear before suddenly grew loud.
At this point, one could clearly make out that it was the sound of a pack of monsters on the run.
When the first monster came charging out of the fork on the right, the three of them — Dark and the others — finally got a clear look at what this monster was.
As expected, it was none other than the same kind of monster that three familiars couldn't even take on — a companion of the Little Devil Hound!
"By the looks of it, it has a skill similar to 'Call Allies.'"
Dark understood at once.
He then patted Gatomon's head beside him, stopping her from charging forward in a leap.
"Diana."
One soft call was enough — Diana caught his meaning at once.
She said excitedly, "[Bear Spirit], go!"
"ROAR!"
That ancient-looking giant bear of light let out a thunderous roar, which reverberated back and forth through the passage.
But the imposing aura it gave off still wasn't enough to scare back the ferocious Devil Hounds.
As the first Little Devil Hound came charging out, then a second, then a third… in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen Little Devil Hounds had come tearing out.
The [Bear Spirit], under Diana's command, came hurling itself forward.
Even on all fours, the giant bear stood three meters tall — and in front of Little Devil Hounds that didn't even reach a meter in height, it was like a fully armed war chariot, simply steamrolling straight through.
Within Diana's excited eyebrows there still lurked a trace of nervousness — but not until the [Bear Spirit], with unstoppable force, sent the front row of two Little Devil Hounds flying did she finally clench her little fist!
"Boom! Boom!"
Those two Little Devil Hounds slammed hard against the wall — their skeletons all but coming apart — and as they slid back down, they were no longer able to rise.
But the remaining Little Devil Hounds still pounced forward with savage ferocity.
They abruptly split into two streams, attempting to skirt around its front.
The [Bear Spirit] came to a sudden, screeching halt — propping itself up on one paw while the other paw came down hard in a powerful slam.
The bear paw, the size of a millstone, sent another Little Devil Hound flying.
That Little Devil Hound was already coughing up blood in midair as it was sent reeling backward, and after crashing to the ground, it lay there howling and writhing in agony.
But after losing three of their number, the rest of the Little Devil Hounds successfully closed in on the [Bear Spirit]'s flanks. Then, they sprang up with a sudden leap, opened their jaws wide, and bit down hard on the [Bear Spirit]'s body.
In the blink of an eye, several Little Devil Hounds were already hanging off that massive frame of the [Bear Spirit], tearing into it ferociously while raking with their sharp claws.
The [Bear Spirit] felt the pain and couldn't help letting out a furious roar.
But Diana's mana, flowing from between her fingers into the Magic Guide Card, kept her constantly attuned to the [Bear Spirit]'s state — and she could see that its magical power hadn't dropped in the slightest.
Those Little Devil Hounds looked vicious, but in truth they couldn't break through its defenses at all.
Even so, Diana did not let her guard down.
Professor Nini had taught, in her Monster Studies lessons, points to keep in mind when fighting inside the dungeon.
Among them, for adventurers first entering the dungeon, the most important thing was actually not the raw strength of their Magic Guide Spirits.
Because their Magic Guide Spirits were usually already enough to deal with monsters like the Little Devil Hounds.
What they needed was the courage and experience to face monsters head-on — and, most importantly of all, the apportioning of mana!
A Magic Guide user, when blessed with abundant mana, generally possessed combat strength that towered above that of other combat classes — but they also shared a weakness similar to that of mages, namely insufficient mana.
Especially after summoning out a Magic Guide Spirit, if one wasn't careful and got drawn into a prolonged battle, the massive amount of mana required to sustain a Magic Guide Spirit over time would rapidly drain a Magic Guide user dry!
So the key point of mana apportionment lay, in turn, in controlling and choosing how many Magic Guide Spirits one summoned.
In other words: if you don't have to summon, don't summon; if you can get by with summoning just one, then summon only one.
Weighing a monster's strength with the most precise judgment, then sending out a Magic Guide Spirit of corresponding power, striving to resolve the battle within three minutes — that was the mindset a Magic Guide user absolutely had to maintain.
So in the present situation.
It wasn't enough for the [Bear Spirit] merely to stand undefeated — it needed to resolve its opponents faster.
...
Diana watched carefully for a moment, then suddenly bellowed: "[Bear Spirit], Roll!"
"Roll," of course, was not an Ultimate Move.
Rather, it was a simple command on par with "Belly Up" or "Paw."
"ROAR!"
The [Bear Spirit] answered with a roar, then promptly flopped down onto the ground and rolled hard to one side.
The mountain-like body, in an instant, crushed the Little Devil Hounds clinging to that side beneath it.
"AwooOO——"
The Little Devil Hounds' agonized cries and the sound of bones being pulverized rang out in the same instant.
After the [Bear Spirit] rolled one more time, the Little Devil Hounds hanging off the other side of its body were also crushed and gravely wounded.
Only three or four Little Devil Hounds that had bounced away in time were spared — but that was no longer enough to slow the [Bear Spirit] down!
Just as victory was about to come into sight, one of the Little Devil Hounds seemed at last to have a stroke of inspiration. Its scarlet eyes turned toward the three apparently defenseless humans.
Then it bared its fangs, its body half-crouched, and with all four limbs surging with strength, it actually abandoned the [Bear Spirit] and came charging straight at the three of them.
"Gatomon."
Dark released the hand that had been holding down Gatomon's head.
But before Gatomon could even raise a paw.
At his side, Diana suddenly piped up excitedly, "I'll handle it!"
In the next instant, the twelve-year-old girl strode forward without a hint of fear, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. She drew her right shoulder back ever so slightly, raising it up, timing it precisely to the moment when the Little Devil Hound launched itself into the air — and then her right arm shot out like a bolt of lightning.
That fist, wrapped in skin as soft and delicate as could be, came smashing straight into the Little Devil Hound's lower jaw with the most savage ferocity.
"AwooOO!"
After one shrill, agonized cry.
The Little Devil Hound's lower jaw slammed hard against its upper jaw, its teeth all but shattering into pieces.
Diana, ever since she had enrolled at the academy, had at last failed to hold back and revealed her innate divine strength.
That Little Devil Hound had actually been punched half to death by her in a single blow!
"Heave-ho!"
She came to a stop and stood there, fist drawn back.
Dark, off to the side, watched with an eyelid that wouldn't stop twitching.
"Diana."
Rose hurriedly rushed over, lifting up her fist to give it a hasty inspection.
"It's nothing," Diana said, glancing utterly indifferently at the bloodstains on her fist — which, of course, belonged to the Little Devil Hound.
Rose let out a sigh of relief, but at the same time grumbled, "Cut down on doing this sort of thing from now on — a girl's skin is precious."
Diana patted her chest with her other hand and said smugly, "I've got a special medicine at home that removes scars — guaranteed painless and scarless."
The words Rose had still wanted to say were lodged right back in her throat: "..."
Right after that, the [Bear Spirit] also struck down the other two remaining Little Devil Hounds dead on the spot.
Just as Diana was about to recall it back into the Magic Guide Card, Dark reminded her without missing a beat: "When hunting monsters in the dungeon, you have to make sure the monsters are well and truly dead. Otherwise, when we're gathering materials, we're very likely to get ambushed."
Although Diana wasn't particularly afraid of being ambushed, she still hurriedly issued the order.
The [Bear Spirit] then swung its claws, finishing off each one in turn, and thoroughly smacked every last Little Devil Hound to death.
"Next up — gathering materials."
Diana nodded, recalled the [Bear Spirit], and went together with Rose to gather the materials.
The Little Devil Hounds' corpses were a sight too horrific to look at.
Diana completely ignored that. Rose, however, felt her stomach turn the moment the stench of blood hit her head — but she still persevered and extracted the usable materials from the Little Devil Hounds' bodies.
After a Little Devil Hound died, most of its magical power coalesced into one of its canine teeth — but a small portion would also coalesce into the claws or other parts.
To break apart and cut out those parts from a corpse was, in fact, a rather demanding kind of work.
Dark had at least some experience killing chickens and fish, so his tolerance for this sort of thing wasn't bad.
Diana, for her part, didn't feel the slightest hint of discomfort at all.
Rose...
The moment she sliced off a particular part of one Little Devil Hound, she finally couldn't hold it in anymore and threw up.
Diana was startled into a jolt, and rushed over to comfort her.
Dark shook his head helplessly, then pulled on his gloves and prepared to set about breaking down the remaining materials himself.
But after Rose was done throwing up, she insisted, "Let me do it!"
Dark paused for a moment, then broke into a smile.
...
A person doesn't have to be strong.
But they cannot afford to be lacking in fortitude.
...
Once the gathering was done, they put all the materials into a single bag and then placed it inside Diana's backpack.
The backpack that had originally been stuffed full had quite a bit of room cleared up after lunchtime — perfect for holding the materials.
After that, they moved to a different spot to sit down for a short rest. They waited for Rose to gradually recover before setting off again.
With the experience of dealing with the Little Devil Hounds under their belts, Diana and Rose were undoubtedly much more confident.
The three of them gradually moved further from the entrance, pressing onward deeper and deeper.
During this time, they naturally encountered more monsters.
Dark didn't lift a finger from start to finish — practically everything was handled by Diana, with Rose then in charge of the gathering.
A full hour later, the three of them had grown gradually more in sync with one another, and their haul was quite considerable.
Since there was a rest period after every hunt, none of them really felt tired.
Dark, seeing that the two girls had gradually grown used to the pace of the dungeon, came to a stop in a spacious open area and summoned out the "Trash Slime."
Diana edged in closer and poked at the "Trash Slime" Dark was holding, asking curiously, "Are we starting to look for treasure chests now?"
Dark nodded. "It was no small effort getting into the dungeon — if we don't even find a single treasure chest, you can't help feeling like the trip was a waste."
"Fair enough," Diana said, nodding vigorously in firm agreement.
Hidden within St. Marian's dungeon were genuine treasure chests in the true sense — and not just Treasure Chest Mimics that made their living "scavenging."
If one was lucky enough, one might even open up a treasure chest containing relics long lost to history.
Dark had been eyeing the treasure chests from the very start.
He had already been holding himself back for quite some time.
"There shouldn't be any danger, right?" Rose said worriedly. "Don't novels always say that treasure chests come hand in hand with danger? Good treasure chests are even guarded by powerful monsters."
Dark gave a faint smile. "But this is the dungeon. What did we come to the dungeon for?"
Diana immediately said loudly, "Sightseeing, traveling, picnicking!"
Then, with Dark and Rose both looking over at her, she stuck out her tongue and said, "For adventure, that is."
Dark said helplessly, "That said. There's another saying I'd rather you keep in mind."
Diana: "What saying?"
Dark said gravely, "Adventurers never adventure."
Diana: "But you just said we came to the dungeon for the adventure…"
Dark: "So that's why ideal and reality are always in conflict."
Diana couldn't help clutching her head and shaking it hard. "Headache. I don't get it."
Rose then popped a milk candy into her mouth.
Diana, chewing on the milk candy, suddenly had her epiphany: "I get it! It's like how I want to eat candy, but it's not guaranteed I'll get to eat candy!"
After a long pause, Dark said, "Well put."
...
Amid Diana's smug laughter, Dark drew "[Greed II]" out from his card pouch and reminded them, "Get ready."
What came next would be the moment of witnessing a miracle.
"In the name of Dark Demon, Magic Guide Summon!"
As the Normal Summoning was completed, the face of "[Greed II]" instantly released a pale blue light.
That blue light grew gradually more intense, enveloping the Trash Slime within it.
A moment later, the Trash Slime swelled and morphed within the radiance, going from its original green slime form into a blue-green jelly form.
"Puyo——"
Two-star Magic Guide Spirit: "Greed Slime I."
Ultimate Move: "Treasure Scent"!
"We've only got fifteen minutes."
Dark said rapidly, lifting Greed Slime I up.
The jelly-like body wobbled slightly atop his palm, and its eyes gradually grew sharper.
"Puyo!"
A short little tentacle squeezed out of its body and pointed sharply in one direction.
The corner of Dark's mouth ticked up. He said at once, "DemiDevimon, scout the way!"
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