In this [Ancient Hunting Grounds], so full of dense jungle, it was all too easy to lose one's sense of direction.
Just as had been said before.
It wasn't only a matter of north, south, east, and west—there was also the matter of up and down.
The giant trees and vines stretched on almost without end, and the vertical distance of the entire space was perhaps several hundred meters, perhaps several thousand—it was simply impossible to measure.
Whether one looked up or down, all that met the eye was a pitch-black abyss with no visible end, with only faint points of phosphorescence glimmering like distant stars, marking out the path ahead.
Isagi and the girls, following the map they had recorded earlier, began to press onward once more.
There was no doubt about it.
Right now, everyone's objective was, first and foremost, to locate the passage leading to the deeper levels—that is, the region known as the [Golden Desert]—and then, as much as possible, to circle back and explore this dense jungle.
Based on their previous experience in the depths, the ordinary monsters beyond Floor 37 were all at least around Lv.6 to Lv.7 in strength, and the more formidable BOSSes might even approach Lv.8.
That being the case, Isagi figured that, at the very least, he definitely didn't plan on heading down there until he himself had leveled up to Lv.7.
To be safe, he could even wait until after Lv.8 to explore down below, in which case spending a bit more time wandering around up here would be perfectly fine.
"Heave-ho!" "Be careful, now."
"Tiona, scoot over a little—it's so cramped!"
"It's you who's gotten fatter, Lefiya."
"I have not!!"
Feeling the girls on his back bickering away, Isagi could only sigh.
On a map like this, with such enormous differences in elevation, his and Ais's ability to "fly" naturally became the best skill to have.
If they had to be like the Loki and Freya Familia, constantly clambering up and down among the vines, the rock walls, and the branches coiling around the giant trees, who knew how much trouble that would be.
It was just that the party had grown larger.
And so the fellows that he and Ais were now "carrying" had naturally become a great deal heavier as well.
As usual, Isagi carried Lefiya, Tiona, and Haruhime, while Ryuu-senpai and Miss Heith were on Ais's side.
The two of them drifted along unhurriedly.
By the light of the Magic Stone lanterns hanging at their waists, like little solitary boats adrift upon a pitch-black sea, they explored through the darkness.
They weren't flying about all over the place, but rather following a single branch of one of the giant trees, descending slowly at first, then continuing to search for the edge of this dense jungle—working from the outside inward, just like cinching shut the mouth of a sack, "licking the ground" circle by circle.
This was also the fastest way to find the entrance to the deeper levels.
After all, no matter what, the corridor connecting the floors was certainly at the very bottom—that much would never change.
In their previous few adventures, they had already found the lowest region and explored a portion of it; now, Isagi and the girls were planning to head to the areas they hadn't yet explored.
"If all goes well, this time we'll be able to finish exploring all the remaining areas."
The Dungeon was neither all that large nor all that small.
Although it could be said for certain that this [Ancient Hunting Grounds], in terms of sheer area, was definitely far, far broader than the city, it still had its limits.
At an adventurer's speed.
Even the entire city could be circled in an hour or so, though that kind of "full-speed state" was certainly not suited to exploration, since one would overlook a great many things.
But even so.
For an adventurer like himself, walking a careful, thorough lap around the city would surely take no more than a day or two.
And on each of their previous adventures, because Lefiya and the others had prepared so well, their supplies had even been enough for everyone to last more than a month. Even though he himself basically kept to a rhythm of wrapping up the adventure and returning to the surface after about half a month, after several such trips they had indeed already explored the lowest reaches of this [Ancient Hunting Grounds] pretty much from top to bottom.
"Shh—careful."
As they finally touched down.
Isagi and Ais both dispelled the magic that allowed them to fly, while letting the other girls down from their backs at the same time.
All around remained dim and silent.
The impossibly thick weeds and the vividly colored flowers were all at least several meters tall, and at this moment, everyone truly seemed to have shrunk countless times over, becoming "ants" exploring this [Ancient Hunting Grounds].
Parting the blades of grass to move forward, Ryuu-senpai and Isagi walked at the front together, searching for the markers they had left earlier.
They were a kind of "pouch" that left behind a distinctive odor, and because the foul stench they gave off repulsed monsters, there was a high chance they wouldn't be destroyed—Isagi recalled that back when he had gone to the Dungeon of a thousand years ago, the [Hero] and [Soldier]s of that era had used a similar method.
It seemed this was clearly a tradition handed down from quite ancient times.
Following this powerful odor, everyone advanced through the boundless sea of grass, now and then climbing over the hill-like branches of the vine-wrapped giant trees, or skirting around sticky swamps and deep, gloomy black pools.
Before long.
The flowers and grass before them had been crushed deep into the ground, forming an enormous footprint still oozing threads of blood-red, sticky slime.
A [Blood Dragon].
In the region of Floors 29 to 32, the monsters were composed mainly of various "dinosaurs," giant birds, and the immobile monsters known as the "trap type."
The former were basically all colossal beasts, extremely ferocious and terrifying;
the latter were hidden almost excessively well—whether flowers, grass, trees, or vines, anything, anywhere, at any time, could be a monster's disguise;
for instance—
Parting the blades of grass, Isagi and Ryuu both saw, appearing suddenly right before their eyes, a single enormous blood-red eye.
"!!!"
It was the corpse of a Blood Dragon.
A behemoth that had originally been at least over five meters in the Dungeon, had—under the boost of his own special Dungeon—become a "monster"-class existence standing over several dozen meters tall.
That huge eye, like a blood-red full moon, occupied nearly everything before everyone's gaze.
And inside it, something seemed to be growing, on the verge of "breaking out of the earth."
"Splat"!
As the thin membrane covering the surface of the eyeball was punctured, an "arm" streaming with bright red pus and blood reached out from within.
"Help me—"
The thing inside let out a somewhat bizarre mumbling sound, that blood-soaked "arm" waving about, utterly and completely as though it were pleading to him and the girls for rescue.
But.
There was no need for Isagi to lift a finger.
The incomparably swift Ais had already drawn the [Sword of Despair], and in an instant severed that "arm" reaching out toward the boy and the girls.
Again there was a "splat."
The "hand" that fell to the ground was still writhing, splattering thick, fishy blood everywhere.
And only at this moment could everyone see clearly that this was no human hand at all, but a squirming "worm"—a worm parasitizing the inside of some giant tree.
"Prepare for battle."
At the sound of Isagi's words.
The grass all around let out a rustling sound.
Then, amid the several-meters-tall sea of grass, dense swarms of ghastly green wriggling worms poked out their heads, letting loose at everyone an ear-piercing, hissing "sssss" shriek.
____
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