'Congratulations on breaking through the ninety levels!
'Thanks!　It's all thanks to you guys!


　The fact that Aldrete Crow's army was the second to break through the ninety levels was greatly appreciated in the Clan House. Luke, the clan leader, was also happy to be an explorer for the first time in a long time, or perhaps he was being gored with a more elated face than usual.

　Sova and Bittman, the oldest of the clan members, also received congratulations from their old friends and responded in kind. But since there are not a few clan members who aren't here, the two of them also look a little sad.

　Beside the three of them, Stephanie was calling out to the manager in charge of the first army.


''Have you made preparations for the ninety-one level measures?''
Yes, I'm happy to help.
Good. Now, would you please get your documents and equipment ready at once?
I'm scared, sir.


　Aldrete Crow had compiled the reports he received from the informants who had been observing the Infinite Circle's reflection on the Divine Table all day long, and had already made countermeasure equipment and strategies. And he had also made a plan to catch up with the infinite circle.


''Oh, good work. ''My queen.''
Thank you for your help.


　Once Stephanie was about to return to her room after her conversation with the manager, a dark-haired woman approached her, shivering. A woman named Drusilla, a tank who had recently joined the army. She was a holy knight who had temporarily PT'd with Stephanie during Tsutomu's healer instruction about a year ago.

　Originally, she was an outcast in Aldoretto Crow, and had already received a notice of withdrawal from the group, and had half given up on her searcher's life. However, breaking through the 30th level of the hierarchy made her reconsider, and she has been gaining strength to climb up since then. By the way, the dark knight Rigas and the twin swordsman who were on the same PT at the time have grown to the point where they can make a dent in the top ranks, and are still active as searchers.

　But even though they had crawled up from hell once, it was impossible for them to rise to the top of the army without unusual effort or talent. Dorsia is still shivering in the cold after Stephanie gave her a cold look, but she has a kind of talent that allows her to handle the role of a tank just like Garum and Bittman.


(A spirit that understands its role well and can do it without hesitation. And he had a very strong desire to carry out the orders that were given to him. And the desire to carry out the orders given to her is very strong, to the point where she is willing to lay down her own life.


　Bittman, who has attracted a lot of attention by being the only one to tank the PT so far. Garm, who has retained the aspect of a mad dog, but is still a tank. Hannah, who is able to dodge monster attacks and even counter attacks, and other tanks that look like they belong on a god's platform are gaining in popularity, and sponsors are starting to come on board. But the role of a tank itself was only created a year ago, so it hasn't yet matured like an attacker or healer.

　Even though the searchers were used to dying, it was all about dying like hitting a self-destruct switch. In the end, the four of them would charge in together and be killed by monsters, a kind of mass suicide, so to speak. It is an intoxicating way of glorifying one's own death, an escapist death that soldiers cornered on the battlefield often fall into.

　But tanks don't die that easily. Even with your own high VIT and recovery from the healer, you'll still feel like you're slowly becoming more and more strangled. And a great deal of pressure that if you collapse, your PT is in jeopardy.

　In order to endure such harsh conditions and pressure, you need a strong mind. Bittman's experience as a soldier, seeing various deaths up close and personal, yet fulfilling his own job to protect his people. Garum had the mental strength to remain on the front lines of God's dungeon, so he could fight even if his limbs were blown off and his entrails leaked out.


(He'd said he liked bugs, but I never thought he'd go so far as to project himself.... I can't help but think he's crazy.)


　Dorsia calls Stephanie a queen. But she doesn't call her a queen in the general sense of the word, but in the sense of a queen bee, as if she were a worker bee. And she seems to think of herself as a worker bee, and she really does whatever Stephanie, who she recognizes as a queen, tells her to do.


(But you could still use it. Because it was obvious that if you have two tanks who understand their roles and can carry them out, it would make the end-of-life battle easier).


　The only reason why Bittman had been the only tank in Aldoret Crow's army until now was because there was no one else who could handle a tank as good as him. He had survived against vicious monsters in a harsh environment where death was the end of the world, and even more so, he had worked hard in the age of disadvantageous knighthoods, so it was hard to find a tank who could match him.

　But Dorsia, from the moment I saw her when we formed a PT, she wore an atmosphere that was different from other tanks. And her eyes, which look like she's abandoning herself. I like those eyes. I've given up everything for Master Tsutomu and trained myself just to conquer the God's dungeon and have him look at me. I don't know what happened to Dorsia, but I liked the fact that she had eyes that were close to my own.


''Huh...!　Sigh...!　Your skill spinning looks great today!
..........


　Just calling herself a queen or something like that, and the way she gets off on being ordered around is that of a complete pervert. That's the only thing she can't manage, but that's why she's also willing to obey her orders at all costs. Stephanie took a glance at Drusilla with a suspicious look in her eyes, then returned to her room while doing her customary skill rotation.


''Well.........''


　Entering her room, Stephanie first goes to her vanity to check her appearance in the mirror and adjust her hair so as not to be rude to Master Tutum. She stretches out her vertical rolls, which were a little loose, and dexterously curls them back into a moderate habit, just as she did in the morning. The dark circles under her eyes, which have recently taken hold, are also hidden to a certain extent by makeup, and after checking the entire look on the spot one last time, she returned to her room.

　Stephanie's own room had fewer parts of Tsutomu's articles on it than before. Originally, she had collected articles about Tsutomu and supplemented her brain on her own accord because Tsutomu's activities and Tsutomu-sama's activities in her brain didn't mesh.

　However, because reality had overtaken her brain due to her one-hit wondering activities at the 90th level, the number of articles is currently on the decline. However, there is still a picture of Tsutomu on the ceiling, and he still greets me every morning and night, dressed properly.


(Ninety levels have been broken through. ) In the meantime, Tsutomu-sama seems to have gone ahead of you, but I'll definitely catch up with you.


　The traverse path of an infinite loop is available at an accelerated rate. And if it's a normal hierarchy, you can naturally join them, and Tsutomu can't avoid them. Even if Tsutomu feels uncomfortable about himself, he has no choice but to watch.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to apologize to him for his previous bad behavior and also make some progress. But I'm not asking for much. If he can see it, that's fine. But I'd like to see him as a healer up close and personal, even if it's a mistake, so we can start exploring together. And it would already be great to see my own healer.

　When I lie on my back on the bed and look at Tsutomu on the ceiling, my various fantasies come to life, and my skill spinning speed increases accordingly. Once I was recognized by Tsutomu over the divine table and I was overtaken by him at the 90th level, my mind has stabilized to some extent. But even now, I still have an unending desire to be seen only by myself and so on.


'Stephanie, we're ready to go,'
Well then, I'm off. Master Tsutomu.


　In the meantime, the countermeasure materials for the 91st level were available, so Stephanie made a regretful expression, but she quickly suppressed it in front of Tsutomu-sama. And after greeting her with a smile and saying goodbye, she left the room.


　oo


'Bittman!　Step back once, Dorsia, and take your hates immediately, so that you don't get hit by acid.
Combat Cry...


　Slime's acid causes Bittman, whose right wrist to be reduced to just a bone from his right wrist, to drop down and let Drusilla shoulder the monster's hate. Luke re-summons all the monsters he has summoned, as they have all been defeated.


'Eat it up!


　From behind him, Sova threw a volatile oil bottle at the slime and then released a fire attribute arrow to burn the whole thing. The slime then went up in flames as it was and puffed up like a cake that had been burned in a net.


''Whoa.''


　The slime jumped up on the spot, still on fire, and quickly spun around and sent the flaming body part flying around. The unexpected attack caused Sova to drop back, blocking her face with her arms, and Stephanie prevented it with a barrier.

　And after putting out all the fire and regaining its blue body, the slime landed and jumped at Drusilla after plummeting on the spot and shaking. She managed to react to the slime that flew at a speed as fast as the Winter General's attack, but it was possessed by her left hand. Then the equipment in the place where the slime had possessed her melted in no time at all, ignoring even the high VIT compensation and melting her left hand.

　If you were to have your arm melted by a slime, a normal person would panic and go berserk. But if you use your free hand or leg to try to pull the slime off, it will just melt that too. In fact, Hannah died because her body was melted too much by it.


''Dorsia, just push it away with your shield and pull off the slime with your entire left hand.
Yes, sir.


　But Dorsia didn't move a single eyebrow, even though her own arm was melted, and she waited for Stephanie's instructions. Then, as she instructed, she ripped the slime away from her own arm with her shield.


"High Heels.


　Immediately, Stephanie uses her recovery skills to heal and regenerate Dorsia's left hand. At the same time, she has healed Bittman's injuries completely, and she turns her attention to Sova, who is impatiently setting the flame magic stone on the spear handle.


''There's no need to be so impatient. At the ninety-one level, it is important to be able to deal with the slime as quickly as possible, but the infinite circle also seemed to be fiddling at first. Besides, the anti-acid equipment over here isn't working yet, so I'll aim to bring back the slime acid today.
I don't know how many of these slimes I'm gonna have to deal with.


　Sova thrust wildly at the slime with a spear whose spearhead was reddened by the heat, activated by the fuel of the flaming magic stone, but the nucleus in his body dexterously avoided the barrage of blows. Then suddenly, something like a tentacle sprouted from the slime and swung to cleave the surroundings. Sova let out a tongue lashing as she flew to avoid it.

　This situation was expected, because even the infinite circle seemed to be tough to fight on the ninety-oneth level until the slime's countermeasure equipment was available. But with a face filled with humiliation at the fact that five people have taken on a single slime and still haven't been given an effective strike, Sova finally picked up her most skilled longsword with a face filled with humiliation.


''I didn't expect you to draw this sword against a slime.
''I didn't expect even an eighty level monster to kill me instantly. I'd like to keep this slime in my summoning candidates at all costs.
We've recovered the acid, so go ahead.


　Staring at the slime, which is probably the number one unexpected monster he's fought so far, Sova strengthens her grip on the longsword with renewed recognition. Stephanie sends instructions to the two of them as they try various anti-oxygen materials on the acid that was heaving on the ground behind them and retrieve it with the one that didn't dissolve.

　Then they fought to the death against the lone slime for about ten minutes, but it was still too hard on the tank without the anti-acid equipment. All of the slime's attacks had a powerful acid imparted to them, and it was hard to compensate for it with VIT. Therefore, even a bitman in the late 80th level wouldn't be able to get away with it for free if he was hit.


''Ah!　It finally hit me!


　And in the end, Sauva managed to take out a nuke with his longsword, but Bittman and Dorsia's equipment was a total loss. Sova is also feeling a bit skittish, having to have some of her weapons melted down.


''Well you almost turned the hate on me. High Heels.
"I'm sorry, my queen.


　Dorsia is in a devastating state that an ordinary person would have asked to be killed. However, she couldn't even recover due to Hate's reasons, so Stephanie was recovering her while saying something cold at the end of the battle.


''After all, this still requires anti-acid equipment that can prevent slime attacks to some extent. Let's come back today. It would be a waste of time to continue fighting the slime like this. It looks like we'd better level up.
Oh, yeah, I think--


　Sova was about to agree with Stephanie's words, but he broke off mid-sentence and turned back to look at the sky. Then, out of the corner of his eye, an arrow with a lot of momentum was passing overhead.


''That's not the kind of arrow a goblin could shoot, is it?
..........


　Stephanie's heart raced at Sova's words.

　But that arrow alone could not assure him that he was coming. It could simply be that Diniel is coming to practice by himself.

　In the first place, it was impossible for Tsutomu-sama to come to the ninety-first level. According to what I heard from an annoyed Sova, who said that she had met and talked to Master Tutom in person, he seemed to be concerned about the one incident at the guild. It seems now that my mind has become somewhat more stable, but that was the worst.

　So there's no way I would come to a hierarchy where I know I'd be. Even though she knew that in her head, Stephanie couldn't help but worry about the direction the arrow flew from.


''Ah.....


　Then a figure came into view from the direction where the arrow flew. One, two, three, four........


''Ahhhh.........''


　There are currently only ten people who can come to the ninety-oneth level. And there was no way I could mistake myself for that fifth person. He is flying with a pure white hood flapping and a staff in hand.

　A single army of PTs from the Infinite Circle was coming closer and closer to where Aldrete Crowe was. Stephanie could only watch the scene with a look on her face as if a god had descended.