There wasn't anything in particular to say about the encounter with the demons until they reached the tenth level.

　Well, you see ... the demons that came out were like no match for us.
　From a different perspective, it could be said that we were able to chew on our own growth.

　Normally, I would have spent half a year at the school, capturing the holy ruins, growing little by little.

　But there were too many harsh and irregular events to get to this point.

　A fight to the death against a pack of blue goblins.
　A first encounter with the Hibigami.
　A mission to defeat the giants.
　Killing each other with the Four Deadly Plagues.
　A duel with Noyes.
　The Tenth Legion's attack on the Great Sacred Ground.
　The fight to the death with Skolbanger.

　What can I say........I feel like I've gotten stronger by going a different route that deviates from the regular route while ducking through the sudden battle events.

　What's more, I was also trained by top-notch swordsmen like Currier-san and Commander Sogut.

''Gigaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

　Before I knew it, we had defeated the Great Lizardman, the guardian species of the tenth level.
　Cecily smiles weakly at me.

''Breaking through the ten levels in one day........isn't that the fastest record if you're not good at it?

　I wonder what this feeling is.
　Yes - it might be similar to the feeling of returning to the main route dungeon with an overwhelmingly higher aptitude level in a game or something like that, for example.

　While smiling, Cecily-san looks a bit pale.

''The long term strategy plan I built might not have made much sense.......''

　For some reason, I said, in the style of skipping a follow-up.

'Well, we still have a long way to go!　In the future, there may be more difficulties than just the strength of the demon, and--yup, let's proceed with caution!

　After defeating the guardian species for now, we reached the 11th level.
　We found a suitable room again and decided to take a break there.

　I don't feel tired yet.
　I check my pocket watch.
　It was already past the usual dinner time on the ground.

''It's true that you're not that hungry inside the Holy Ruins, isn't it?

　Thanks to this, I can fit a month's worth of food into my backpack.
　The way I'm feeling, I only need to eat one meal a day.

When you finish the day's attack on the Holy Ruins, the rest of the day is spent eating in a safe room and going to bed.

　By the way, the room near the stairs that connect the hierarchy to the hierarchy, the lower the infiltration rate and the rate of appearance of the demon is.

　Demons can't move up the stairs.
　It may have something to do with this as well.

''What do we do now?''

　I sit down flat and Cecily unfolds the parchment.
　She rolls her top down and starts writing something.
　It looks like she's revising a section of the schedule.

''Hmm........I thought it would feel like we'd finish the first day around the ninth level at the earliest, but we've come to the eleventh level. Considering the amount of time I've been in, my speed of attack is astounding.
What do we do now?

　Mr. Currier, sitting leaning against the wall, asks.
　Miss Cecily looked up.

'What shall we do?'
Didn't we have a level of difficulty around here?
''Hmm, to be honest, it's hard to determine the difficulty with this attack team...''
'I've heard there's a limit to the number of tiers you can advance in a day, so would it be any more difficult for you today?
But that's just a rumor, you know.

　Cecily leaned up and put away her pen.

I've heard that the difficulty of the game increases dramatically after the tenth level. Some people think that's why many of them feel that they are blocked from capturing the game at that point.

　I see.

Does the increase in difficulty mean that the strength of the demons will increase dramatically?

　This is a room that has only just entered the eleventh level.
　I haven't seen the difference between the eleventh level and the previous levels yet.

　If only the strength of the demon changes, I think I can get over it to some extent.
　However, if the structural difficulty also increases, the story is a little different.
　For example, the traps and the maze that grants illusions.

We don't have information on traps that seem to exist until the 26th level. But after the twenty-sixth level, the information left behind by the brothers revealed a record of traps. It seems that the reason your brothers returned without fighting the guardian species on the thirty-second level is because one of their companions was broken by a trap.

　Fractures can't be completely healed by a healing technique.
　Maybe it's the injury system that we should be aware of that doesn't work with that kind of healing technique, surprisingly.

I mean...

　Currier said.

''So we can reach the twenty-sixth level simply by kicking out the demons?

　Cecily-san smiles, as if to say that she can't accept that statement easily.

''That's right, but.......normally the strength of the demons that appear up to that twenty-sixth level seems to be the source of trouble for the candidates.......''
''It's a lot easier for me to fight the demons of the Holy Ruins than to deal with noise and hibigami... for now, though. So, how are the two of you feeling tired?

　Me and Cecily answer Currier's question.

'I'm still fine,'
I'm still okay, too.
Hmm. Well, I'll go as far as I can.

　Currier-san checks his pocket watch.

''So, we'll stay in the room on the level we arrived at when the date changed... how's this working out?
That's all right with me. How about you, Cecily?

　Cecily spins around and begins to roll up the parchment.

''Yes, that's fine with me too.

　Cecily smiled bitterly, but she also looked somewhat happy.


　　　　　*


　We spent about two hours on the 14th level.

　Finally, we encountered the one giant that is said to be the most difficult enemy at that level - the Cyclops.

　The ceiling at the 13th and 14th levels is high.
　Even if the cyclops stood upright, there was still a gap between it and the ceiling.
　This structure is not beneficial to the attack team.
　However, it is a terrain that the giant cyclops can move around in without stress.

　In addition to the lack of obstacles, the Cyclopes also move with a reflexes and speed that cannot be described as stupidity.

　I've heard that many of the past attacking teams had a tough time with this monster.
　However.

...the Second Realm is liberated.

　A hundred spears flew from the rift in the dimension to the cyclops bound by the black chains and stabbed him.

　The cyclops roars.
　The giants begin to dissolve.
　After a while, the first giant was completely dissolved and gone.
　What was left was a crystal about the size of a carrot.
　I walked up to it and collected the crystal.

''Phew.''

　I take a breath.

Since we were able to defeat it with this in the past it feels like we've taken certainty this time, too.

　Curie-san, who was standing at the back with Cecily-san, sniffed.

''As powerful as it sounds,''

　Once, when the Cyclops appeared on earth, he used the Ninth Forbidden Spell to kill it.
　Perhaps it was because of the sensation I had at that time, but there were parts of my body that moved in a conditioned reflex.
　According to the King of Forbidden Spells, the Ninth Forbidden Spell is an almost unburdened Forbidden Spell.
　Thanks to that, it's great to be able to use it easily.

　Is it also an advantage that when using the forbidden spell, you don't have to remove the backpack every single time to make it easier to move?

''But even so--''

　I look at the place where Cyclops was.

'There's a part of me that doesn't know if it's good or bad that it's going to melt away.

　In the Holy Ruins, no demon corpses are left behind.
　Therefore, it is not possible to use meat as food as wild animals do.
　That's why there is no food made from demon meat in the Holy Ruins.
　Due to the nature of these monsters, it's necessary to procure food before diving.

　In the meantime, I heard that there are some food that can be procured locally.
　I heard that there are roots of trees that take root in the ruins and edible grains that can be found from time to time.

　Also, if the demons dissolve, they can't take the fur and horns back and use them as material for processed goods.
　The only crystal that remains is a loot-like loot.

　The advantage of dissolving is that no decomposed corpses are left here and there.

''The study of demons hasn't progressed much because they begin to dissolve even after they reach the ground. I heard that in the past, there were some attack teams that captured and studied them within the ruins, but...''
Speaking of which we haven't encountered any different species yet this time.

　A different kind.
　As the name suggests, a different kind of demon.

　It appears less frequently than other monsters.

　Because of their high fighting ability, they have a higher chance of acquiring crystals.

　The demons of the Holy Ruins are basically white skin and body hair.
　Their blood is blue and their eyes are red.
　The reason why the different species occur is a mystery - it's said to be a mystery.

　I know the identity of the different species from the Forbidden Spell King.

　The whitened demon is a demon weakened by the blessing of the holy god Renoir's Red, whom this country adheres to.

　The different species are not so much under that blessing as they are discolored, so they only exhibit abilities that are close to their "true power".

　In short, the different species are closer to the "original".

　I heard that the power of the holy gods is related to the reason why demons melt when they go to the ground, and why they can't come and go on the stairs.

　If it wasn't for the power of the Holy God, the king's capital might have been regularly filled with demons from the Holy Ruins.


　We went straight into the fifteenth level.