"Alright, then."
At the end of the dungeon stairs.
Ren paused before the entrance to the 20th floor and looked back at her companions.
Around her neck was a newly purchased magical choker. The embedded gem was black onyx. Its effect was to increase defense.
The defense enchantment magic in this world seems to grant a barrier-like function to the equipment. When checked with an appraisal skill, the status is displayed as "A+B," where the 'B' part of the defense applies no matter where the body is hit.
The enchantment on the choker was weak, so the effect wasn't significant, but that small boost could sometimes be the difference between life and death.
A silver ring was also set on her right index finger.
This was also a magic item, and its effect was to enhance magic power. Both were new pieces of equipment purchased in preparation for the decisive battle.
While she considered carrying a staff or a dagger, her hands were better left free for the sake of using Energy Drain on someone or holding Shion. So, she chose items that could boost her abilities without occupying her hands.
Wearing them also had a subtle effect of boosting her mood.
When I was a man, I couldn't understand why women's eyes would sparkle over gems and such, but having become a woman and started to take an interest in fashion, I began to get it.
"Alright, let's go with the plan we discussed."
At Ren's words, her five companions nodded.
Furi, the Thief, had bought a bracelet enchanted with defense magic and a knife with an auto-repair function. She was pleased with the latter, noting a point slightly unrelated to combat power improvement: she might not need to replace her knife anymore.
Iris, the Archer/Elementalist, purchased a ring set with an emerald. It was enchanted with wind magic, which increased the speed of her arrows and improved the accuracy of her attack magic.
Mei, the Golem, had a magic mace. It was a rather high-quality item with enhanced durability and an auto-repair function. She was happily polishing it, saying, "Its performance is nothing compared to my body, but..."
Mariabelle hadn't purchased anything new. The items she already used seemed to be sufficiently powerful magic items, and she was equipping them again.
Shion, the Yōko, didn't get new equipment because her usable items were limited, and there was a possibility she wouldn't be able to wear them if her body grew as she leveled up.
However, the key to this battle was definitely Shion.
"Ren-sama. I humbly ask for your assistance."
She hopped up and settled into Ren's arms. Ren smiled back and said, "Yeah."
"Since we're here, let's go at them with the force to wipe them out, just the two of us."
Taking a step out of the exit, they found the same wide battlefield they had seen before.
Naturally, there were no traces of the previous battle. Holding Shion, Ren softly floated into the air above the pristine wilderness.
Spreading her wings wide.
Ren's body ascended at a speed impossible with her previous floating ability. This was the effect of the newly acquired 'Flight' skill. With this, she could move through the air at high speed.
"Be careful, Ren!"
"Of course!"
Returning Furi's shout with a loud voice, Ren and Shion headed towards the battlefield.
This time, they would not take a defensive position above the exit.
Iris, who used a bow, ascended to a high vantage point using her own magic, but Ren and Shion, the main combatants, would actively approach the enemy and aim for their annihilation.
"There they are."
"Just as we heard, there are so many..."
"This much is still nothing, really."
As Ren rained down some Magic Arrows, the enemy noticed them. With shouts, the horde of Goblins and Orcs turned their faces upwards, and those with shooting capabilities began to counterattack. However, there was a sufficient distance, and the attack was from below to above. Ren easily dodged without needing to panic.
In fact, they were at a disadvantage for stopping, but did they even realize that?
"Shion, think you can hit them?"
"I believe I can hit them."
Shion's tails had increased to five.
Five Foxfires, created simultaneously, were fired in a five-shot burst. A total of twenty-five flames rained down on the enemies. Although the enemy tried to evade, more than half of the shots hit. Every Goblin struck vanished in a single blow. Ren immediately followed up with a boosted Magic Arrow, practically annihilating the enemy group.
As if suddenly remembering their objective, or perhaps fleeing from Ren and Shion, the remaining enemies started moving forward, but they were clearly staggering. They could probably be left alone now. Iris's arrows would likely finish them off.
"Ren-sama, are you alright on MP?"
"Perfectly fine. Besides, I'm absorbing from Shion."
Ren's MP, which continued to expand its maximum value daily, was significantly higher than before. Although Energy Drain wouldn't fully recover it, the capacity wasn't something that would easily run out.
"I'll keep attacking aggressively, so please shoot as soon as your MP recovers."
"Understood. Leave it to me."
When Shion couldn't shoot, Ren would fire two boosted Magic Arrows to sweep the area.
Since their presence in the sky was already stopping the enemy's progress, they wouldn't aim to collapse the ground by changing its elemental property. Ren intended to pour all her MP into offense, not wasting it on that.
The enemy's attacks could mostly be avoided just by raising or lowering altitude.
It really made it clear how powerful altitude was.
"Yeah, this might actually be fun."
"It's starting to feel like a shooting game, but wouldn't the developers cry if this were an actual game...?"
However, completely dodging every shot was difficult.
While attacking the seventh group, an attack finally reached Ren. She dodged in a hurry, but in the process, Shion slipped out of her arms.
"Shion!"
"I'm alright...!"
Shion replied and stopped in mid-air, as if stepping on an invisible foothold.
This was the effect of a new skill. Its name was 'Air Walk.' It seems to either create an invisible platform to stand on, or an invisible platform is created wherever her paw lands. Of course, she can choose not to activate it when she wants to jump or fall normally.
Although it was best to hold her for Energy Drain purposes, Ren had prepared Shion to fight in the air even when separated. It was a good thing they acquired it, as it turned out to be necessary after all.
"Take this!"
Twenty-five Foxfires delivered what seemed like excessive damage to the enemy formation, annihilating a large portion of it.
And then.
"Tenth group. We've made good progress so far, but..."
"Ren-sama. What is that number?"
"Yeah. Even seeing it again, that number is absurd."
A horde of monsters that could be called an army. It was overwhelming, as it included higher-ranking Goblins and Orcs.
A large number meant a proportionally large shooting force.
If they weren't careful, they risked being shot down and overrun.
"Shion! This is the last one, so no holding back!"
"Understood!"
Ren fired Foxfire and Magic Arrows diagonally downward, reducing the enemy's numbers while keeping them in check.
She used her Flight ability to its fullest to evade counterattacks, and occasionally fired back. The aim was somewhat sloppy, but it was fine as long as a certain percentage hit.
Even just getting the archers and mages to stop and separate from the horde was effective enough.
Ignoring the lagging enemies, they chased the main force and inflicted one-sided damage on the enemies that had no means of resistance. They couldn't wipe out the entire force, and the shooting units were catching up, but,
"Alright. Time for the second part of the plan."
"The key is how the enemy reacts here."
"Yeah. I think it'll be okay, but..."
While replying, Ren, still holding Shion, changed her movement.
She circled around and lowered her altitude toward the rear of the shooting unit. She approached a spot less than a meter above the ground, on the opposite side from where Furi and the others were.
"Mana Bolt!"
"Foxfire!"
They ensured that the fewer shooting monsters were taken down with single-target attacks.
They dodged the counterattacks using their Flight ability and defense magic, and after repeating the attacks a few times,
"About a third of them are turning back!"
"Good. It would have been tough if they all came at once, but with this...!"
Ren landed on the ground and released Shion.
"If you dodge, you'll hit the allies coming from behind...!"
She unleashed her magic with the intensity of being willing to use up all her remaining MP.
-----------------
"Didn't Ren and Shion-chan take care of about 80% of them? You guys did too much."
Furi and the others, who had regrouped, hadn't suffered any noticeable injuries.
They were only being complained at for being "too effective," which, given how much Ren and Shion had achieved, was perhaps inevitable.
After annihilating the shooting unit, they effortlessly wiped out another third of the main force that had turned to attack them, and then trapped the remaining main force between themselves and their allies. It was hardly surprising that they were told they had done "too much."
"No, but it was tough. I have almost no MP left."
"For me, it was a cycle of recovering and emptying my MP again..."
Shion, who had been incredibly active, was completely exhausted and settled into Mei's arms.
The Golem girl, who fundamentally lacked the concept of fatigue, was perfectly fine, especially since she had little work to do, and was stroking Shion's fur with a deadpan expression.
Iris, who had apparently shot down countless enemies with her bow and magic, seemed to be driven more by a sense of accomplishment than fatigue and wore a bright smile.
"We've gotten stronger, haven't we? I can't believe it went so well...!"
"It's thanks to Ren-san and Shion-san's combination."
The victory, as Mariabelle assessed, was due to this.
Shion acted as Ren's, and Ren acted as Shion's pseudo-MP tank, forcefully boosting their ability to sustain combat. This allowed them to perform magic well beyond their original MP capacities.
It was a great achievement that they managed to achieve the same or even better results as when they cooperated with the other party's mage, but with their own party alone.
"We got a ton of drops! And this time, we get it all to ourselves!"
What would have been a huge haul even if split half and half between two parties was all theirs.
The income was sufficient even after deducting the money spent on pre-emptive equipment purchases.
"This should cover our living expenses for a while."
"Yeah! Let's keep earning more and more!"
They had just visited the Western restaurant, so this time, they decided to have a regular dinner at home.
That said, the menu was considerably more lavish than usual. Since they had returned earlier and the time required was less than usual, Furi and Iris had cooked with extra care.
Alcohol was served as a matter of course, and the seven of them, including Aisha, gathered around the table for a cheerful dinner.
"Hmm, even so, my alcohol consumption has increased recently."
This was a cause for concern.
I used to finish one bottle of distilled spirit in a week, but lately, I've been drinking almost every day. Well, I suppose the alcohol served during meals can be counted separately from the alcohol I buy for myself, but still, I feel like I'll lose control at this rate.
"Maybe I should learn some restraint around here—Shion?"
Ren murmured this, only to have her sleeve tugged by the fox girl.
"I think it's heartless of you to say that after introducing me to the taste of alcohol."
"Ugh."
That hit a weak spot. It was a fact that she had tempted a virtuous girl down the path of depravity, even if it was for the sake of leveling up and deepening their bond.
She should have the spirit to join Shion whenever she wanted to drink.
When Ren looked to Furi and the others for help, the thief girl and the half-elf girl exchanged glances.
"Let's try to stick to moderation for our health."
"Yes, let's."
They easily avoided the issue.
Well, Ren and Shion were the only ones in the party who seemed like they could handle repeated heavy drinking, so they were the right candidates.
"Alright. Then, Shion, you and I are drinking buddies."
"Yes! ...Then, maybe I can buy some alcohol with my allowance. I should be able to toast abura-age by myself if I adjust the Foxfire's heat."
"Oh. It looks like Shion-chan's allowance will be spent on alcohol and abura-age."
"She seems to be able to buy quite a lot."
"I can't think of anything else to buy... And as a luxury item, I'd say it's rather quaint."
Indeed, it was much more fitting for a Yōko than gambling or manga.
"Alcohol is tempting for me too, but I also want clothes and underwear. I have to buy new ones because my body changes so quickly."
"That's something to be envious of..."
"You can get quite a bit of money back by selling clothes you can no longer wear to a secondhand store, right?"
"Yeah. I often sell them before I've worn them much."
She was starting to feel like a shrewd girl who constantly changed her clothes by using online auctions.
-----------------
The next day.
"Ren-san. The Sage seems to be here. What should we do?"
When Ren went to meet the Sage, who had apparently been diligently waiting at the entrance of the residential area, hoping "someone would notice me," he said he had brought a gift to celebrate their re-conquest of the 20th floor.
"A gift?"
"Yes. I had originally intended it to be a housewarming gift, but some preparation was necessary."
The gift he gave them was a Portal installed in one corner of the residential area.
It was a transfer array that led directly to the temple. Although it was one-way, meaning they couldn't use it to return, it was an excellent item that allowed them to travel almost instantly. It was also slightly convenient because they wouldn't need to make a round trip when going shopping.
They gratefully decided to use this transfer array and built a locked shed around it to manage it.
============
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