Chapter 22
「You look so tired-nyaa......」
「Ah, yeah, my waist feels kinda weird too.」
The next afternoon, Nemu smirked at the exhausted Mars.
In just one night, Mars had lost nearly one kilogram of body fat, while the women were glowing with vitality.
Especially noticeable was Sion, who was emitting a kind of mature charm that she had not previously possessed, like that of a married woman.
「I understand now how you all want to do it anywhere! Can I ask for it tonight too?」
「T-Tonight too.....! Can you please hold back a little today?」
Once aroused, Sion requested for a variety of positions.
Her hips movement in the cowgirl position was the most intense among the group, and with her vaginal structure, Mars was made to ejaculate repeatedly.
Even though she had just orgasmed, she continued to writhe and indulge in repeated climaxes, showing her lasciviousness.
Hazuki was surprised to see a pervert on the same level as herself.
She enjoyed the act purely for its pleasure and didn't feel the embarrassment that Hazuki and Lilia felt. Her dirty talk was mild, but she was aroused if she was strongly desired.
Quiet people often have surprisingly strong sexual desires. Mars thought again about what he had thought about Hazuki.
Since he couldn't get up in the morning, he took a bath at noon, prepared himself, and returned to the dungeon.
He didn't plan to rush through the conquest but neither did he plan to stay long.
He intended to reduce their daily breaks as much as possible.
Today, they will continue to explore the cave.
Since the Frog Cave, there were fewer artificial structures and the dungeon was similar to the previous dungeons.
「Still, there are no stairs to the next floor. One floor was too long.」
「Right. There have been dungeons before where it took two days to get through one floor, but that was because we got lost in the maze-like paths. That dungeon wasn't this big like this.」
「Yeah, that's true. This place is simply too big. But, well, it's going down slowly, so maybe this is the way it's supposed to be.」
Not only the straight line that went on for more than a hundred kilometers in the beginning, something is strange with the undersea city of Kritias.
Based on the current situation alone, it is more like a temple with monsters than a dungeon.
Mars has speculated that the dungeon may have been built after the Sea God was pushed back, but he is not sure of the truth. Perhaps, no one knows.
「I wonder what happened to my husband. He should have boarded with the other warriors, but there is no trace of them so far.」
「In the first place, it was all on the surface, but are they going to be okay?」
「I assume they have grown legs like me, but... Well, the warriors are strong, so they might not have had much trouble advancing despite this obstacle.」
――Can we say we are strong, even if we know our strengths?
If we don't get serious, the mermaids might beat us to it.
And negotiation might not go well because I have already gotten my hand on Sion-san
「We should hurry too. Though we don't know the structure of the dungeon, we have no choice but to move forward.」
Mars urges everyone to move forward, and they begin to walk.
Mars still doesn't know that there is a mysterious flying object far above.
Misfortune comes suddenly.
Without any connection, suddenly and unjustly――
◇
「Something smells down here-nyaa. It smells like urine-nyaa. 」
「It's not me, though!」
「No, I don't think you're peeing!? It must be the smell of a monster. Let's be careful.」
On the way down the path, Nemu pinched her nose and said it, causing Hazuki to overreact.
「We've come to a wide open space, aren't we? I can't tell much with a torch, so can you use your light magic?」
「You can count on me!」
Hazuki aimed her light spell at the ceiling.
It was a spell that could allow one to see the entire floor.
They arrived at a large circular body of water.
It was indeed an underground lake.
「Gyaa!?」
Almost at the same time the light turned on, Hazuki's scream echoed through the room.
Their eyes met――
Eyes the size of cars themselves pierced through everyone.
There was a huge squid monster.
The ceiling was about 10 meters high, but the squid seemed even larger.
Since it was in the water, they could not see the whole thing.
All that could be seen was a part of it emerging from the lake.
「Gross!? What the hell is that!? Its eyes are so huge! It's definitely not a size to be envious of!?」
「It's obviously a giant squid! Hazuki, turn it into grilled squid!」
Before Hazuki could use her magic, the squid monster stretched out its tentacle arm and attacked them all.
Mars used his "Body Strengthening" and sliced the approaching tentacles.
However, the cut tentacles flew toward Mars and the others.
Nemu kicked the tentacle, killing its momentum and slamming it onto the ground.
「Oh no, Nemu can't handle this-nyaa! The smell is unbearable-nyaa!」
Nemu plugged her nose and sat down with teary eyes.
Her sense of smell, which was her strength, had turned into her weakness.
The raw smell of the sea is unbelievable, especially the smell of ammonia.
Due to osmotic pressure, many marine organisms retain large amounts of urea in their bodies.
Even Mars's eyes were watering from the smell.
The body fluids scattered due to the cut, and the odor became even worse.
There were still many tentacles left.
One of them caught Hazuki's foot.
「Kyaa!? Something's grabbing me!? Help me!」
「Hazuki! I'll help you now!」
「Lilia, don't use lightning, Hazuki-chan will die!」
Mars stops Lilia, who was about to shoot an arrow wrapped in lightning.
As Mars steps forward to help, the squid throws Hazuki up toward the ceiling.
「I-I flew away, ahh, I'm going to die!?」
The ceiling is high, but considering the squid's strength, it's certain that she will reach the ceiling.
If she collides with the ceiling and falls to the ground, Hazuki will undoubtedly die.
Mars immediately used multiple "Body Strengthening" and jumped up, using the squid's tentacle arms as stairs.
He caught Hazuki near the ceiling ahead of him and hit the ceiling from the back.
He reaches Hazuki before she hits the ceiling and catches her, but Mars collided with the ceiling with his back.
Because he couldn't control his strength, Mars' back is instantly pierced by sharp rocks and becomes tattered.
「Ughh! Hazuki-chan, burn it from above with magic!」
「Crimson Magic Circle "Meteor Fire"!」
Hazuki's magic bursts from the ceiling.
As the name suggests, it's a high-speed fireball resembling a meteor.
When it hits the squid's main body, its entire body rapidly shrinks and its tentacles converge towards the body.
From above, it's clear how powerful Hazuki's magic is.
In this instant, an updraft is generated, enough to support the weight of the two of them for a while.
The cost is the difficulty of breathing.
If used in a narrow space, oxygen is consumed quickly.
Even if you regret making the wrong choice, there's nothing you can do about what you've done.
In this brief moment of attack and defense, many mistakes were made.
――This is bad, if I don't do something, we will both die!
If they fall to the ground, they probably get out of this unscathed.
Water is also not an option. Falling from this height would result in an impact similar to hitting concrete.
But if he had to choose between the two, it's the water.
Mars kicked the ceiling and guided his body toward the water.
「I'll only save Hazuki-chan!」
「What about you, Mars-san!?」
There was no time to reply, nor was there a response to give.
If Mars could use his body as a cushion, he thought he could save Hazuki.
When he was prepared for death, the two of them were scooped up by a column of water.
Even though they were underwater, they could breathe.
They realized a moment later that there was air around their faces.
The column of water slowly descended to the ground, and Mars and Hazuki were saved without understanding what had happened.
「Wheew...... thank goodness......」
Sion sat down on the ground as if her legs had given out.
It seemed that she had used magic to control the water and create air at the same time to rescue them.
The squid monster sank and disappeared, and they couldn't tell if it was dead or not, but the threat was gone for the time being.
「Oh, t-thank you so much! I-I-I thought I was really going to die!」
Hazuki cried and prostrated herself before Mars and Sion.
Aside from Mars, who always fights while destroying himself, Hazuki had never really faced death before.
In fact, this time, even Mars was prepared to die.
If it were not for Sion, he would have died for sure.
「Gah.....the saltwater stings ......!」
Mars had numerous deep wounds on his back.
They were wounds from rocks that had pierced him.
Lilia and Hazuki hurriedly began the healing process.
Especially Hazuki, who was crying, felt bad about it.
「Thank you so much, Sion-san. If it were just us, we would have died. I guess I really let my guard down.」
「Not at all. I am honored to be helped. It was an unexpected demonstration, but I can use that kind of magic. If you can incorporate it into our strategy, please do so.」
「Sure, I'll count on you.」
Hazuki started a fire to warm their wet bodies, and they all decided to take the opportunity to take rest.
Mars honestly couldn't move and his heart rate was abnormally high because he was mentally scattered and couldn't focus.
He knew that if he challenged again in this state, he would make the same mistake.
In this case, he should have relied on Lilia's lightning at first.
Or, Hazuki's ice magic would have been fine.
It was a mistake to worsen the situation before choosing one of them.
In other words, Mars' judgment had been poor.
The long period of inactivity had led to a decline in his judgment.
He had forgotten the basics of continuing to think.
――This wound is a warning.
It hurts a lot, but I must not forget this pain.
「Oh, there's a road ahead in that direction.」
A dark cave continued deep inside the underground lake.
「Achoo! Ah, it's true!」
「Wipe your runny nose. Jeez...... here」
Hazuki, drenched, had snot running down her nose and was handed a handkerchief by Lilia.
Tears, snot, and all sorts of bodily fluids were covering her face.
It seemed that her body was getting cold.
「Nyaa, nyaa? Where is the water connected to-nyaa?
Nemu stared at the underground lake and asked a question.
Where did that squid come from earlier? The dungeon should be an independent space.
While this is a large underground lake, it is a little small for a squid of that size to inhabit.
There was a skeleton of water at the bottom of the lake, but beyond them, something like an underwater cave was visible.
「Could it be that the mermaids went that way?」
「It's possible. If we have to choose between land and water routes, we would choose water.」
「Which one is the right answer......, Still, I think the land route would be better now that we've come this far.」
「If there are many monsters like the ones we just encountered, I think the water route would be dangerous. I can fight too, but just because I can fight doesn't mean I can win. I can't defeat them in one blow like General Hazuki.」
The risk of death increases dramatically in the sea.
If a land route is available, Mars would choose that.
Somehow, he feels that going underwater is a shorter route, but he still wants to fight on his home ground. They should not take unnecessary risks.
「Thank you for healing me, Lilia. I'm fine now.」
「But you are not completely healed yet, right?」
「No, it's okay if it's not completely healed now. It's just right to keep it painful. I almost lost Hazuki-chan because of my mistake.」
「――I understand. But I'll make sure it's completely healed by tonight. You shouldn't leave any scars on your body.」
Lilia knows what Mars' intentions are. However, she was also worried.
It's important to have a sense of self-blame, but she knows better than anyone that you shouldn't be trapped by it.
「M-Mars-san, I'm sorry.....It's because I wasn't careful......」
「Well, I don't think you could have dodged it even if you had noticed it. I should have judged it earlier. It was my fault that I let the opponent attack. It was my judgment mistake this time.」
Hazuki refutes Mars's statement, but she feels like blaming herself now.
Mars had underestimated the dungeon too much. He thought he knew everything after conquering a few.
This situation was nothing but the result of his own arrogance.
「If you think my judgment is wrong, I want someone to give me their opinion, no matter what it is. If Hazuki-chan also thinks she is at fault for this, I want her to make up for it.」
「I-I understand. ......」
――I'm also the one who will be protected under certain circumstances.
Mars smiled as he straightened Hazuki's wet hair.
Using pain as nourishment, everyone moved forward.
Mars felt his relaxed heart tighten up again.
――Don't let Mars Irving pull you down.
I am not a child.
Don't forget. That I was Japanese, someone who is constantly walking around and exploring(行町行人)――
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