This girl named Tsukuyo was only a Lv.1 rookie!
And she was blind, too!
Yet when a monster ambushed her, she could strike after it moved and still kill it before its attack landed.
That kind of talent was rare even in Orario.
In fact.
The image of a blonde girl renowned as the [Sword Princess] surfaced in Tsubaki's mind.
-Ais Wallenstein of the [Loki Familia].
The genius who had taken just one year to rise from Lv.1 to Lv.2, setting Orario's record for the fastest level-up.
All this time.
That record had loomed like a mountain over everyone who came after her, far beyond their reach.
But now...
Tsubaki looked at the blind girl.
Her instincts told her.
If it's this girl...
Perhaps.
She might really have a chance to break that record.
At that thought.
Tsubaki's interest grew even stronger than before.
After all, from what she could see now, taking this job escorting rookies had really been the right choice.
Witnessing the birth of a monster.
That had always been the sort of entertainment gods and adventurers living in Orario could only dream of.
Especially for a smith like her.
Watching a weapon she had forged with her own hands shine so brilliantly in the hands of an unparalleled genius.
The satisfaction was more intoxicating than the finest liquor.
Chapter 32: Fighting rages in the Dungeon, while the patron god encounters a stalker
Then.
"Tap."
Tsubaki casually picked up the small magic stone the War Shadow had dropped and tossed it, sending it arcing through the air.
Tsukuyo Inaba gently raised her hand.
Two slender fingers caught it with perfect precision.
She did not even turn her head.
"..."
At the sight, Tsubaki could not help scratching her long, unruly hair, no longer able to suppress her grin.
"Come to think of it."
"I'm really getting curious about where Lord Haimo dug up a bunch of freaks like you."
"But..."
"Since you're this capable, I can't keep treating you as rookies entering the Dungeon for the first time."
"I was originally just going to take you around the floors above the tenth and let you get used to the surroundings."
"But from the looks of things..."
Tsubaki's lips curved into a grin.
"That clearly isn't enough to satisfy you little monsters."
"In that case."
"I might as well take you farther down for something a little more worthwhile."
With that, Tsubaki finished speaking.
The party set off again.
This time, they advanced noticeably faster than before.
And since they were being far more conspicuous this time, they made no attempt to conceal their movements.
They had only just reached the seventh floor.
When trouble.
Arrived.
"Skitter, skitter-"
A dense chorus of crawling noises came from the shadows deep in the passage, enough to make anyone's scalp crawl.
Then.
More than a dozen pairs of scarlet compound eyes lit up in the passage.
Their red carapaces gleamed like metal, and their sharp, sickle-shaped forelimbs swung through the air with clacking sounds.
-Killer Ants.
They came in a swarm, more than a dozen strong.
These monsters had such hard carapaces that even an ordinary iron sword could curl at the edge when it struck them.
And once they surrounded their prey, their relentless frenzy could wipe out an unprepared Lv.1 party in an instant.
They were troublesome creatures that only appeared from the seventh floor onward.
However.
Their guide was Tsubaki, a Lv.5.
Especially after seeing the abilities of Sasamori Aya, Tsukuyo Inaba, and the others along the way.
Tsubaki was hardly worried about anything going wrong.
She merely wanted to fulfill her duties as leader out of habit and remind the others that these Killer Ants' weak points lay at their joints.
"..."
However.
Before Tsubaki could speak.
A black-clad figure charged ahead of her.
Unsurprisingly.
It was Sasamori Aya.
She showed no intention of slowing down whatsoever.
Facing the Killer Ants' swinging sickles.
She instead lowered her center of gravity.
And slammed straight into them!
"Clang!"
A Killer Ant's sickle struck her shoulder hard.
Sparks flew.
Only a red mark appeared on her skin.
"Too weak."
Sasamori Aya's lips spread into a wild grin.
The next second.
Instead of retreating, she pressed forward.
Her fair hand abruptly became a knife-hand.
With a shriek that tore through the air, she drove it viciously into a gap in the Killer Ant's hard carapace.
"Squelch!"
Raw strength erupted.
She actually tore the Killer Ant's head off, along with half its thorax!
The dead Killer Ant instantly turned to black ash.
Sasamori Aya did not even blink; instead, she lunged at the next one with even greater excitement.
She was practically a humanoid tyrannosaur wearing human skin.
"..."
Seeing this sight once again.
Tsubaki still found it utterly unbelievable.
After all.
She was only Lv.1.
Her body was already this tough at Lv.1, letting her take on a Killer Ant's rock-slicing sickles with her bare flesh...
Once she accomplished a [Great Feat] and leveled up in the future...
Merely imagining that sight was enough to send a chill through Tsubaki.
For all she knew.
This girl might someday become more monstrous than the monsters in the Dungeon.
At that thought, Tsubaki could not help shaking her head.
Then she raised her foot.
"Squish."
There was a sharp pop.
As her foot came down, it was like bursting an overripe tomato.
A Killer Ant had tried to dart out from behind and ambush Tsubaki amid the chaos.
It did not even have time to force its signature screech out of its throat.
Tsubaki's heel, clad in a sturdy work boot, instantly crushed its entire head, turning it into a cloud of black ash.
Only a fingernail-sized magic stone remained, rolling to the ground with a clink.
Naturally, Tsubaki had no interest in such a tiny magic stone.
She kept her arms folded and continued watching the unfolding scenes with interest.
For now, these dozen or so Killer Ants, lethal enough to an ordinary adventuring party.
Were nothing more than whetstones for this bunch of little monsters.
Meanwhile.
The fighting in the Dungeon raged on.
Orario, on the surface.
The midday sunshine was lovely, and the towering Tower of Babel cast a long shadow.