'I thought it was pretty flashy, but it's such a good magic stone. Wow, that's a lot of money to lose!　Isn't that the best ever for a single battle?　This?


　After returning to the Clan House after checking out the eighty-sixth level, Tsutomu returned to the Clan House, and after taking a bath and finishing dinner, Oli called him in. And when he received the loss report that the Mutant Shell Club PT gave today, he smiled with amusement.

　Then Oli bowed his head reverently.


''I'm sorry. It was my fault.''
'No, you don't have to apologize at all. So Hannah and Oli will take responsibility and take a pay cut.
Yes. It's all paid for here.
'Well, Hannah doesn't learn if she doesn't fail, so it's fine, but I'll pay for Oli's. I have money from trading light and dark magic stones and surplus equipment, and I also have funds I'm putting into clan management.
No, I'm the one who gave Hanna the magic stone.
It's not a problem for us to have the housekeeper do the accounting as well, so don't worry about it that much. I'm sure the apprentice is going to be very nervous if Oli-san gets a pay cut.
Okay.


　There was no reason to burden Oli with that much, so when I said that, she looked unconvinced but withdrew and left the room after finishing her paperwork report.

　Tsutomu, who was left alone in the room that Oli usually used for paperwork and the like, looked up at the ceiling while leaning against the sofa.


(You couldn't defeat him even if you used the Great Magic Stone of Fire...)


　The Fist of the Demon Stream is "Live Dungeon! I can't measure the detailed DPS since it's not in the DPS, but I still think it's something that can be as powerful as the skill, and even more so depending on the situation. Even though Amira couldn't move and wasn't able to attack much, the Mutant Shell Club was still able to cut down there. However, even if she was hit by the Fist of the Demon Stream in that state, the mutant shell club was still alive and seemed to still be able to move before the image of Kamidai was cut off.


(Considering his strength alone, does he have at least a mounted golem?　(That's a great crab.)


　As I was thinking about the mutant shell club, lining up my heels to the ceiling like stars to create a pseudo-planetarium for comfort, the door to the room opened, reservedly. And a bouncing blue hair comes in all at once.


''Oh, isn't that Hannah-san who took her first pay cut in the infinite circle after a fancy waste of money! Good job!
..........


　Hannah, who was called out by such a voice as soon as she entered the room, made a pouting face as she looked at the skills floating on the ceiling of the room. However, as soon as she understood the agitated words, she raised her voice like a boiling kettle and ran off. Then a white cat ear appeared from outside the door.


I'm not the one who said that, but that was a bit annoying.
'I don't like it when you apologize for the money. I don't even care.
I don't mean to say this, but Tsutomu doesn't care about money either. That's right!


　Amy jumped on a couple of heels on the ceiling and stared at her hands as she recovered a bit. Then Tsutomu chuckled as he looked up at the pseudo-planetarium with the holes in it.


'Amy's a rough money spender, but she's the type to make more than that. Isn't she worth more assets than those aristocrats out there?'
How awesome is it for a clan leader to behave badly towards a girl with such an asset value?
If you want to be treated like a noblewoman, I will.
That's probably half happy and half sad. Sigh. I didn't like people who gathered for money, but why isn't Tsutomu, the most important one, attached to money?
There's no limit to the amount of money you can earn if you want to.


　Tsutomu goes through Amy, who glances at him meaningfully as she says that, while placing an additional heel on the hole she's opened.


'Ugh, don't ever say that in front of Hannah. The pay cut was sinking in a lot.
It would be a boon if it made him a little smarter. You should at least be in charge of your own money.
The merchants treat you like a sitting duck, don't they?
The merchants will be laughing all the way to the bank because those ducks in green onions are protecting them from the deliciousness of their own pots and pans.
...Huh. Was that the situation?
'But he seems happy, and he's already let it go. He doesn't seem to have any debts.
I have a few words for you. So, what's this?


　Then Amy looked slightly amused and got right into a different topic. Then they talked for a while about the pseudo-planetarium that they had built by imagining the stars in the night sky of this world and the Mutant Shell Club.


　oo


　The next day, Tsutomu, who was free due to Diniel's request for an extra day off, went to the Shentai Market as usual. And after making the rounds of greetings and offering funds to the artisans who were developing magic tools that would be useful in the dungeon attack, he took a peek at the first stand.


(I feel like my face is getting worse and worse.......are you okay?)


　After Tsutomu and the others with their equipment broke through the eighty-five levels, Aldrete Crow's overall speed of attack had increased. The first army has already reached the eighty-nine levels, but among them, Stephanie's face has become much more suspicious.

　The thing that I think has changed the most is the dark circles under her eyes. They didn't exist before, but now they are so visible that it could be mistaken for make-up. I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who have a lot of experience in this field.


'Let's go, shall we?'


　However, perhaps because of the regret of being demoted for asking the people around her to be on the same level as her, her attitude towards the PT members is quite normal and the atmosphere is not bad. Although she is in charge of the first team of the PT, she also takes into account the condition of the PT members, so she doesn't progress that recklessly. However, the speed of the attack was outpacing the rest of the army despite being on the front lines.


''The dango raise is already finished. We will break through the ninety levels at this rate as well.''
Well, yeah.


　It's no secret that Stephanie doesn't get along with Eunice, and it would have been humiliating for her to practice the bun raise she had developed. However, even that Polk seems to respect her attitude of easily accepting that humiliation and simply moving forward, although he seems to have a certain amount of respect for her, even though he seems to be pulling away from her. Bittman also looks at her as if she were his superior when he was a soldier, and Luke and Hurt are complete followers of Stephanie.


(Progress is faster than I thought. Well, we'll be stuck at the ninety levels but it looks like we'll have to accelerate our schedule a bit)


　The end of the 90th level Lord, the Archangel's End of Life. The monster, often abbreviated and referred to as the end of its life, is famous for killing healers. First of all, they use an entire attack that causes darkness, a combination of darkness that reduces the hit rate of attacks and silence that makes it impossible to use skills, and silence, a condition that causes silence. There are several patterns to this general attack, and once you get used to it, you can avoid it before the attack is predictable, but it's difficult to deal with on first try. Even more so in this world where there are no predictable lines of attack.

　And since the darkness of this world almost entirely blocks your vision, if you are hit, you will be unable to fight. There are items that can be canceled, but since you can't cancel them on your own unless you are familiar with them, you will need a companion to do it for you.

　The silent state is also fatal for healers as it prevents them from using their skills. Healers who can't support and heal are worthless. Besides, Naraku has the ability to gradually petrify those who make eye contact with him, so unfamiliar first-time PTs must regularly use medic to unlock it. This is because once a person is completely petrified, he or she will die.

'Live Dungeon!' In the case of the first game, since he just turned away when the magic eye prediction came out and didn't go into a petrified state, a familiar PT was often able to break through without ever using a medic to unpetrify it. If it was just like the game, it would be no problem if Tsutomu gave directions.

　However, in the previous Stampede, Tsutomu confirmed that the Black Dragon was constantly activating the Magic Eye, which was only rarely used by the Black Dragon. Therefore, there was a high probability that the Petrifying Magic Eye of the Narrow End of Life was also constantly activated, so I could imagine the possibility of the PT collapsing once the healer could no longer use the skill.


(That was something I struggled with the first time I saw it... It would be a pain in the ass even for Stephanie to go over. Well, with the way things were going, it wouldn't be surprising if they broke through by the time I got to the hundredth level).


　Since I have had a hard time attacking the end of the line, I assumed that it would take a lot of time for an average healer to get over. So I thought that after passing Aldoret Crow at the 90th level, I would have more time to spare, but Stephanie was showing more success than I expected, so I had to speed up my schedule a bit.


(To call out to that one.)


　If I can find a clue to go back to Japan at the hundredth level, that will help me achieve my goal, and if I don't find it, I'll be able to call on her as my schedule stretches and I can afford it. To be honest, it's not impossible to put off some of the awkwardness, but I really don't want to get into any trouble by calling on Stephanie now. Therefore, it's better to achieve my own goals first.

　Tsutomu moved away from the first table while thinking about this, and looked around the thirtieth table on the small monitor. Then he found the divine platform where a crowd of people had gathered, so he took a quick peek.


(How many times have I seen that one, it's a horrible PT.)


　The three with the unique skills of dragonification, phoenix soul, and golden blessing, and Alma, the black mage with the highest weapon in the surface dungeon. And Eunice, the developer of the Dango Wraith. The Dream PT is a dream PT that makes a point of saying that we've gathered a bunch of strong guys for the time being.

　Such a PT is fighting against a mutant shell club. Since there are two clan leaders, they seem to have at least the minimum amount of information, and they've thought about countermeasures against the sticky fluid.


''It's a hassle........''


　Eunice grumbled as she sprinkled sand all over the sticky liquid that the shell club had spat out. That won't make the sticky fluid disappear, but by covering it with sand, you can greatly reduce the adhesive strength. Furthermore, when the sticky fluid was about to come out, Camille or Alma, with their attacking power, immediately attacked the face to prevent it.


'Hi!　It feels like it's working like crazy!
..........


　And Leon, wielding a weapon that was granted with the phoenix soul, was moving too fast and the eyes of the gods were not able to follow him. Weiss is going around pounding the shell of the mutant shell club with a red mallet, or vise, in his hand. Although the Clan is currently in a slump, their individual strength is definitely at the top of the list in terms of their overall strength.


''It's time to step aside!　I can shoot you!


　The two of them are able to earn enough damage on their own, but it's still a tank's role. When Alma, who had recovered her mental power and reduced the hate from the mutant shell club, shouted that, the two of them split off in different directions at once.


''Meteor Stream!''


　The mental power consumed by the black cane was reduced, and a meteor shower of enhanced power attacked the mutant shell club. After Alma unleashed it twice in a row, red wings flapped after Alma, and Camille thrust a large sword headfirst into the crystal-like scissors. The mutant shell club spat out a mouthful of foam bitterly at such a forceful blow.


(You're engaging...)


　Weiss and Leon recently switched to the tank, and they're functioning well there. But it's just a stop there. That's why they aren't doing so well when we look at each other as a PT.

　They've been attackers to begin with, and that's the right job for them. Nonetheless, to tank in spite of that, at least they are prepared to do so. But the two of them don't have that. I get the vibe from both of them that they're tanked while earning hate from attackers. So there was very little improvement as a tank, and the PT wasn't functioning as a drag on it.

　However, when you're dealing with a mutant shell club that is supposed to cut through everyone, the two of you can push the attacker moves you've been doing to the front without having to stand around as a tank. So the two of them were able to move and function with life. So I got the impression that Tsutomu was meshing well together, and probably Alma and Eunice from the same PT would have thought so too.


(The same was true for Amira and Camille, but they'd try to handle everything on their own.)


　Leon and Weiss are certainly capable of handling tanks as well. But since they don't want to tank that well, they don't improve much. The fact that these two have tanked is the main reason why the Golden Probe and the Red Demons have been sluggish.

　Perhaps if someone else who is better suited to tank plays that role and returns to attacker, the PT will grow dramatically. And if you have a unique skill, you don't have to worry about the role, the traditional system of 4 attackers and 1 healer is fine. There is no absolute structure, and it changes depending on what's popular at the time and what era it's in. In fact, a PT without a healer is "Live Dungeon! But there was a time when it was popular.


(Hopefully the mutant shell club will give you some insight.)


　As Tsutomu thought about this and sighed when he found Eunice's roughness, or looked at Camille to see if there was anything he could apply to Amira, the mutant shell club's armor peeled off and the black shell underneath it began to crack. So far, the battle was going much better, as Leon had only died once.

　But the body underneath the cracked black shell was pulsating eerily red like a heart.


''That's the one I caught a glimpse of when Hannah let loose. What do we do now?
It's obvious. We'll crush you before you do anything to us.
I'm fine.
Hey!　I'm here too!


　While the three Unique Skills were discussing while fighting, Alma, who was recovering her mental power near Eunice, was yapping and screaming. Then Weiss made an apologetic face and they couldn't help but giggle.


''Of course Alma's in there too!　Eunice!　Good luck with restoring support!
You will go to your heart's content.


　Eunice stretched her chest as if to say, "Leave it to me. While receiving her supportive recovery, the three members of the frontline group leapt to the mutant shell club that was lying eerily down.


''........Ah?''


　The three attacks just went through the mutant shell club to the point of being beaten out of shape. The red, eerily wriggling muscle fibers easily split open, and each time they did, the mutant shell club spewed out body fluids while screaming in agony.


''.........Be on your guard. Even if you're not Melcho, you're still an opponent capable of withstanding a demonic fist.''
'Oh. You'd rather hit him and he gets stronger the more you hit him, or something like that?　You're acting like you have a choice to run away.


　The movement of the mutant shell club, which had been attacking aggressively earlier, has become much weaker. It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about it.


''Meh, it's so troublesome...''


　I thought that if it came to this, I would be done attacking and killing. However, even a swipe of the giant right scissors is troublesome, and even more so, it reacts like a machine to Leon's unseen attacks and defends against them. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this in the future.


''Guoh!''


　Camille, who had been swinging her great sword to break down its defense, was flung wide as her swordsmanship was seen through. Then the left scissors, swung out in a counter-like manner, sliced deeply into her side. Fresh blood seeped into the sand, blackening it.


''High heel!''


　Eunice immediately healed him with a high heel, but soon after, Leon was also countered and splattered with blood with a flourish. Weiss regrasped the handle of the large mallet while watching the situation.


''Is melee combat a disadvantage?''


　Weiss glanced at Alma at the gaping stance of the mutant shell club with its large right shears sticking out in front of it. It's a good thing that you're not going to be able to have a problem with that.


''Don't get out of my way!　I'll burn it down!


　Thinking that the flames will pass now that his body is bare, Alma quickly points her wand at the mutant shell club. Then, as soon as the three of them are separated, she unleashes the skill with all the mental power she can muster.


''Crimson Burn!''


　Crimson Burn is the most powerful fire-based skill that a black mage of around seventy levels can use. After releasing three of them and landing on the mutant shell club, he continues to speak.


''Explosions!''


　The mutant shell club screams in grief from the heat and the impact of the explosion. And the three of them tried to rush in to meet Alma, who stopped releasing her skills, but their hands involuntarily stopped at the bizarre scene.


''Oh, legs, are you eating...?''


　The scream of the shell club that I raised earlier. This was partly due to Alma's attack, but it was also due to the fact that he had cut two of his total eight legs with the scissors. And the mutant shell club had picked up its own leg with the left scissors and put the whole shell in its mouth.


'Stop it. I'm recovering!


　Camille shouted that and immediately lunged at it, but the mutant shell club was no longer single-mindedly eating its legs, regardless of whether it was attacked with its great sword. The red muscle fibers that had been torn to shreds as it ate were recovering in no time at all.


'........d*mn, it's getting hard!


　He thrust the longsword, which was granted the soul of a phoenix, at the repairing muscle fibers, but the blade stopped, unable to cut as before. The pulsating muscle fibers that had been restored and reconstructed by eating its own legs were raised to a terrifying degree.

　The mutant shell club, whose entire body had swollen up like a red balloon, raised two scissors menacingly as its body pulsed eerily.


'Just hunt it down again, that's all. Switch it over.
Ew.
It's a pain in the ass.


　Then the three of them attacked the mutant shell club, which had three legs but enhanced body, head on again.