261 Episode 255 Crimson ①




 Allen and his team moved from the temple to the fourth level.

Well, today we're going to look for Orihalcon.

Yes, Master Hermos told me you'd find it in the shells.

 Allen summons the bird B summoner and everyone gets in and goes up.

 These days other adventurers aren't surprised because Allen consistently summons the bird B summoner from the location he's transferred to.
 Maybe they think it's just something with that kind of magical ability.

 Allen wants to find a chunk of Orihalcon and make it into a weapon for Krsna and Dogora.
 Obtaining the Orihalcon weapon will help us to capture the hierarchical bosses and improve the efficiency of our daily assaults on monsters.
 From today, I'm going to search for Orihalcon, and when I've got his weapon, I'll search for the monsters on the leaves and the treasure chest again.

Good luck, Gembu! If you find a large shell, make sure there is no orichalcon inside, as you can destroy it.

 Allen summons the Fish B Summons from the sky and lets them disperse into the water.
 Have all 50 Fish B Summons destroy a mussel-like shell several meters deep in the water to see if there's anything inside.

 Allen has found out a few things in this dungeon.
 It's that this dungeon is alive and well.

 A leaf floating on the surface of the water that was previously burned by the salamander was healed the next day.
 And to my surprise, Ur told me that this entire dungeon is getting bigger and bigger every day.
 Since the streets on the first floor were slowly getting bigger day by day, the city was also getting bigger and bigger along with it.
 That's the reason why the streets are laid out in a circle with the temple at the center.

 Even if you destroy some of them, they can be fixed, so even if you destroy the shells, they will be fixed tomorrow.

"There's a lot of things I'm curious about when I look at it this way.

"Really. Do you check everything?

No, today we will look for the shells that say they have found orichalcone.

 The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom of the water, but it looks like it's 100 meters deep.

 Besides the treasure chest, I've heard that there are treasures sleeping in it and have destroyed large shells like the giant clams.
 But that's not the only place where the treasure seems to be sleeping.
 If you look at the bottom of this crystal clear water, you'll see holes that look like crab holes or even ship-like structures.

 Something must be sleeping in these things.
 I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll stick to my original intentions and look for a chunk of orichalcone from the big clam.

 Half a day has passed since then.
 I've destroyed hundreds and thousands of mussels, but the golden glow of the orichalcone cannot be seen inside.
 Fish B's summoner ignores the underwater monsters and continues to search for the giant clams over a wide area.

It's not going to be easy. I guess I'll have to ask Rosetta to help me out after all.

(The orichalcon shouldn't be found in a day or so. I'll have to change my approach.

 After hearing the story of Rosetta the Phantom Thief, Allen decided to try to find it himself anyway.

......

 Cecil does not answer.
 He seems quite reluctant to ask Rosetta for help with her treasure hunting skills.
 I don't know what Rosetta would say to me in exchange for finding the treasure.

"Hmm?

What's going on?

There's some big shells.

 Shared Fish B's summoner notices an exceptionally large clam shell on the ocean floor.
 Fish B's summoner, in the form of an archeron, tries to destroy the giant clam shell with its mouth.

 But the giant clam is different and cannot be destroyed.
 A B-ranked hexenbiest can bite a B-ranked hexenbiest, while a Fish B summoner can easily crush a rock in the area.
 It's clearly different from the ones we've seen so far.

(Huh?) Is this a no brainer. (Gather around, everyone)

 I decide that this indestructible mussel is the winner, and collect the other Fish B summons scattered around.

 Allen and the others move toward the spot where the indestructible clam shells are located.

Here?

 Allen and his friends arrived at the top of the water where there were no leaves nearby.

Yeah, well, let's see what we can do. Ellie and the others, go get it from the bottom of the sea.

"'Yes, sir.

 Allen and his team have reached the skies above the clam shell, but they have yet to be destroyed by Fish B's summons.
 It looks really strong, so I'll pull it out and retrieve the entire clam shell.

 I've sent some of Spirit B's summons to the ocean floor.

 That's when it happened.

"Hm? The enemy. It's coming at you like a bat out of hell!

(Hmm? (What is the body of this crimson lotus?)

 A huge flock of birds E summons, which was circling in the sea towards the clamor, discovers a huge flock of birds E summons, which was circling in the sea towards the clamor.

Enemies.

 Allen shouts a warning and goes into a state of readiness at once.
 Cecil is behind Allen, clutching his staff.

This is the S-ranked hierarchy boss! Crimsons are coming!

 Allen knows that the enemy is not one piece.

 The bird E's summoner saw a sea dragon dyed in red lilies, called the Crimson Kaiser-Sea Serpent.
 And the smaller blue sea dragon of a different color, swimming solidly to protect the red lily sea dragon, is the Kaiser Sea Serpent.

 This S-ranked monster beast, commonly known as the Crimson, is a four-tiered champion with ten top-ranked A-ranked monsters.

 The Spirit B summons that were being pulled out from the depths of the water are surrounded by the Fish B summons that are at the bottom of the water.
 Every single one of them is turned into a glowing bubble.


 Underwater seems to be the sole domain of Crimson and his friends.

"The enemy is in the water. Let's thin the numbers. Cecil, you go after them with ice magic.

Yes.

 Decide that fire is not effective enough, and use ice magic to target the Kaiser Sea Serpent in the sea.
 I'll reduce their numbers by hitting the Kaiser Sea Serpent, which is ranked higher than the S-ranked Crimson, in preference to the A-ranked Kaiser Sea Serpent.

(Well, I heard that the heroes will run away at a high speed when they get out, but will they be able to defeat them?

 I have only heard that Hermios has never defeated Crimson.
 So we'll have to figure out the strategy ourselves.

 Krena and Dogora also put all their strength into the face of the Kaiser Sea Serpent as it emerges from the water to devour Allen and his friends, hitting it with their great swords and axes.

 Even at the top of the A ranks, Aren's companions have changed jobs twice and are steadily gaining strength.
 Since they have already finished leveling up, the number of Kaiser Sea Serpents is decreasing one by one.

''Gaaaas!

 A crimson cries loudly from the water.
 The voice, so loud that the water's surface vibrated, could be heard even when it was above water, and it traveled over a wide area like a shock wave.

(Huh? Is this maybe . . or maybe it's that thing.

 And soon, out of nowhere comes the Kaiser Sea Serpent with as many as were hit.

"This one is calling his friends!

"We're back to square one again, huh? Oh, look out!

 Cecil is also exclaiming, but the Crimsons don't seem to give them time to do so.
 They fire water cannons from under the sea like rays of light.
 The Crimson team uses water magic to target Allen and the others in the sky.

 The pillar of water created by the water guns reaches up to several hundred meters above.
 They begin firing into the air.
 It's getting dangerously close to the surface.

(d*mn it, let's pull back and sneak out to get the ones where they're gone.

 Defeating a hexenbiest is not the goal this time.
 Rather than continue this never-ending battle, I think we should pull out.
 And when the Crimson's gone, we'll get the Shakogai.

What?

"Master Sophia Lorne!

 Sophie screams as she is hit by a water cannon that reaches the rear guard's position, which is quite high in the sky.
 After confirming that Folmar is okay, Keel quickly casts a recovery spell.

Are you okay?

Yes, thank you, Folmar will be fine, too.

Oh man. (The attack reaches the rearguard, and there's only one way out here.

 Allen tries to escape.

 As Allen decides to retreat, the water nymph Kelpie rubs her face against Sophie's body with a worried look on her face.
 It's okay," Sophie reassures her, patting the Kelpie.

 As if to shake off their hands, the kelpie reverses its stance and glares at Crimson and the others, crying out loudly.

"Squeak!

"Dear Kelpie, I would

"What? Dear Sophia Lorne!

 That's all I could say.
 Sophie feels that all the magic is leaving her body.
 I feel as if I'm becoming distant and I can hear Formal's cries in the distance.
 It seems that her strength has been sucked out of her.

 The water child spirit, the Kelpie, has gone out of control in a way that everyone can see.

You've got to be kidding me. What's this? How can you do this?

"Hey, we're all in this together! Step back!

 The water began to rise in a wide area.

 Allen shouts for Dogora to back away as he screams at the closest point to the surface.
 The unbelievable thing has happened!

"GAAAAAAHHHH!

 The crimson screams, but it didn't matter, it was done.

 I lifted the entire body of water in which the crimsons were standing from the bottom.
 As if the transparent jelly had been hollowed out at the center, the eleven crimson bodies rose into the air, still inside the giant ball of water.

(Hey, I can see the bottom of more than 100 meters of water exposed?

 I don't know what forces are at work, but water doesn't seem to flow in from around it, even if you lift the water.
 There's a huge hole in the water.

Haha. Allen, you're not the only one who can surprise me.

"Huh? I've heard of young spirits, but I didn't know they had this kind of power.

 Spirit God Rosen seemed to be happy to see the surprised Allen.

"A little genie? Spirits are God's family, you know? The Kelpie is the unmistakable branch of the water goddess, Master Aqua. If the four gods are all attached to Lord Aqua, with all the magic and half the strength of a genie user, there is no reason for this to happen. Ha-ha.

 I boast of the power of the young water spirit, the Kelpie, with my chest outstretched.

(I see...so the water attribute makes it very powerful. The water is about to be destroyed.



 Enclosed in a giant ball of water, Crimson and his friends attempt to destroy the ball from within by slamming into it. Something like cracks are appearing on the surface.
 There doesn't seem to be time for much analysis or reflection.

Elly and the others, get it while it's still there!

"'Yes!

 Summon three Spirit B summons and pull up the big clam shell from the ocean floor where there is no more water in the meantime.

 If it takes three of them, we can lift this big giant clam.

 We should leave quickly, including Allen and the others.
 Not long after Allen and the others leave, there's a tremendous earth-shaking sound behind them!
 It's as if a polka-dot had been destroyed and the entire crimson had fallen.

 Without turning around, Allen and the others move away from the spot as fast as they can.
 This is how they succeeded in getting one of the giant clamshells.