Chapter 111: Fourth Floor

“Phew. That was nerve-wracking. Thanks for the help. You came at the right time,” James said. It could have been dangerous—he didn’t think he could win against it alone. The seraph was fast, and he had been caught off guard. If he fought it on open plains, he might have had the advantage. But here, in the tight spaces where it could move erratically by grabbing walls and rails, James didn’t think he stood a chance.

“I left you for an hour and this happened? You worked too hard, James. I don’t remember you being this hardworking back in that company,” Andrew sighed.

“It’s surprisingly hard to stay still when you have nothing to do,” James replied. “I just wanted to take a peek, but the boss noticed me. Didn’t think he would chase me all the way to the bottom of the tower.”

“Anyway, good work. We have one less boss to deal with. Muto, search the corpse. There should be a relic within it.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright, let’s go,” James said, but Andrew disagreed.

“No. We need to search the area. We need the core of the star to reignite the tower on the next floor. Without it, we can’t progress to the fifth floor,” Andrew answered.

“...I see...” James frowned. Andrew had been here before. It hadn’t crossed his mind that they needed to obtain that kind of item. If he went alone, there is no doubt he would have to get back and search the ruins once more, just like in the previous dungeon where he had to return to fight dragons and serpents.

“James. Could I have this?” Kouki asked, still holding the Sword of Khine that James had thrown to him. He had inspected the sword and was intrigued by its effect.

The Sword of Khine converted the damage from weapon skills into elemental damage. That would make it weak during a skill clash. However, James realized just now that it dealt more extensive damage if it landed a hit. But James relied on his stats and skill clashes to win the fight.

Normal weapon skills could sever limbs or leave cuts, sure. But elemental damage could freeze a wound or set it ablaze, causing the damage to spread through the entire body. James remembered how the paladin and the Seraph had burst into flame. James doubted he could win using normal skill clashes. The enemy is evolving, so James needed to extend his arsenal.

“Hm… You can borrow it. For now. If you want it, you must bring me something of equal value,” James answered Kouki. Giving it away didn’t bother him. He had other sources of elemental damage. His Everwinter Axe dealt ice damage. He could use his breath or his firefur if he needed fire damage. But he had learned his lesson about giving things away for free, especially to children. As the saying goes, give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.

“Andrew! Found it!” Muto, the guy with a knack for finding chests, came back. Wrapped in a piece of cloth was something dripping with black goo.

“So, what are we going to do with that? The knight order was destroyed, you know.”

“No, we’ll return this to the knight order on the next floor. The order might be incapacitated on this floor, but they might survive on the next floor. They could simply choose another grandmaster. If they do, we can cash in favors again,” Andrew said.

“Andrew, why must you stick with those knights?” James frowned. Andrew seemed fixated on them. The information Andrew gave was sound, but James hated the knights. They were bigots, always trying to kill him on sight.

“We can hire them. They can beat most bosses in this dungeon. We need them! Then, once we complete these dungeons, we can be ennobled as the Knights of Mystis. Ah, on the topic of borrowing, can I borrow those greaves? I have something better for you at the guild later,” Andrew said, his tone rising. He had seen comrades die before his eyes while trying to conquer this dungeon. He had promised he wouldn’t let their sacrifice be in vain. This dungeon must be cleared for the sake of his comrades.

“… Alright then. Here—the greaves and the sword of Mystis. Why do you want to be ennobled?” James asked.

“Awesome. Now we just need the helmet. If we can be ennobled as knights, we’ll receive the blessing of Mystis as a unique skill.” Andrew thanked James.

“Let’s go. We need to clear the next floor,” James sighed. Being invulnerable to debuffs sounded tempting. If enemies didn’t attack him on sight, he would have loved to gain the blessing.

“Thanks, James. I owe you one. Please be sure to drop by the guild later once we finish this! You should be qualified to become a vice-captain along with Kouki.”

“No thanks. You do you, I’ll do mine,” James said. He knew he wasn’t good with crowds. He would let Ryan handle things at the supermarket and leave it at that. It’s not like James was hurting for cash. He had no desire to lead an organization. If all the dungeons and monsters suddenly disappeared from the earth, he might just retire. He already had enough money for a lifetime from raiding dungeons.

“Understood.” Andrew nodded.

The star wasn’t hard to find. The ruined half of the tower was practically next to its lower half. Following the upper section of the tower, the group found the peak.

“Oi, Andrew, are we really going to drag this gigantic piece of metal to the fourth floor? Will it even fit through the portal?” James and the others voiced their concern when they saw the massive globe, the size of a church bell, sitting on it. The thing had to be over five meters in diameter.

“Of course not, you silly. The core is only basketball-sized at most.” Andrew sighed. He tilted his head. “Hm… the position shifted a bit. There should have been a crack we could slip through.”

“If there isn’t, we can always make a new one.” James readied his axe.

“That would be the last resort. The core is destructible, so I want to make sure it stays safe,” Andrew said.

“What happens if the core is destroyed?”

“...I don’t know. The last time I was here, we successfully reignited the Star Tower. I don’t know what will happen if the core is destroyed. The knights warned me multiple times not to let monsters attack it.”

The group then walked around the collapsed star. Fortunately, the metallic ball did indeed have a crack in it where a person could slip through.

But again, unlike what Andrew remembered, the cracks were so small that only Kaina could squeeze through.

“Yoi~sho!” Kaina grunted as she pulled out what Andrew had described—a basketball-sized glowing ball. Andrew then wrapped it with a new cloth.

“Alright! Let’s go to the next floor! With this, we can gain another favor. If we can somehow defeat the boss without hiring the knights, we can have two people ennobled.” Andrew smiled. The blessing would do wonders for him. Immunity to debuffs meant he would be conscious and clearheaded at all times. If he could give clear orders, he could save more lives.

“Enough yapping. Let’s go.”

“Alright! In you go, our monstrous MVP, James.” Andrew smirked as he motioned for James to step inside the coffin once they arrived before the blue portal.

“Huh?”

“The last time I was here, the fourth portal sent us to a desolate village. We learned that as long as those knights don’t see you, it will be fine. So please, go in,” Andrew said playfully.

“... Jesus. This dungeon is insufferable.” James rolled his eyes. He had opinions about this situation, but he didn’t want to hinder the others from advancing. If they sided with Mystis and desired its power, then that was fine. James will help. As long as the dungeon was cleared, it didn’t matter.

The group advanced toward the portal. What lay before them was a ruined city with no one in sight.

“Andrew?” Hain looked over him

“You can release James, Hain. Yet another difference.” Andrew sighed. They were supposed to be transferred to a walled city. Then, with the knights of Mystis, they were supposed to reignite the star, banishing evil. Yet there was no such city—only desolate lands as far as the eye could see.

“The portal is still here. Where is the city?” James asked.

“You have to ask, huh? We’re on our own. Let’s hope we’re enough,” Andrew answered, a bit irritated. He wondered whether they truly were enough. In his previous playthrough, the group had been assaulted by an endless horde of monsters and knights of pestilence. Only when the star was reignited would they vanish and the portal unlock.

Kouki had the same strength as a knight of Mystis now, if not more. James could easily surpass two knights. Hain was a bit weaker than a knight since he lost his cyborg body. With Andrew , they would have about five knights’ worth of power. Andrew could only pray they could perform as well as two squads of Mystis knights. Then there was the support.

The support could use weapon skills, so they weren’t completely helpless, but they weren’t battle-hardened either. They couldn’t clash skills like James or slide their weapon in a clash like Kouki.

“Andrew, there’s smoke in that direction,” Kouki said after flying on his dragon.

“There are still survivors! Let’s go!” Andrew ran toward the smoke. James followed behind, not terribly enthusiastic. “Kouki, you’ll be the vanguard. If the knights are losing, help them. Hain, protect our rear. James, you’ll be our spearpoint.”

“What if those knights attack me?” James asked.

“...Then you’ll escape,” Andrew frowned. James was his strongest attacker. It was so unfortunate that the knights were so opinionated against him simply because he had monster parts.

“Alright. I’ll leave if I see the knights,” James muttered. He sighed, reminding himself that Andrew was not an enemy. They had the same goal: to free Earth from the dungeons. So James cooperated. As long as it didn’t endanger his life, he decided to help his former boss.

When the group arrived, they didn’t see a fortress city like Andrew had described, but a cave. Five knights were desperately fending off monsters at the entrance. Kouki charged with his dragon and dove down from the sky. His dragon spat fireballs like a bomber. Pets weren’t supposed to deal high damage, but infected creatures were vulnerable to fire. When their formation broke, Kouki leapt out, slashing incoming infected with his newly borrowed swords.

James and Andrew then flanked the monsters. With this, their fate was sealed. James was ready to leave, but despite noticing him, the knights did not abandon their post and continued to stand guard at the cave entrance.

Nevertheless, James didn’t try his luck and left while Andrew and the others went inside the cave. Each had their own job to do.