Well......
　The safe point is complete.
　Now we have a beachhead for exploring the sealed area.
　I can focus on attacking the dungeon without any worries.

''Huh?　Lacelle, are you going away?

You're going to explore the dungeon with me...

　When I was finally about to head out to explore the sealed area, my friends raised their objections.

''Of course we intend to. But you are by far not good enough to dive into a dungeon you have never seen before.

　If you go by [Detection], the demonic beasts in the Sealing Realm are at least B-ranked or higher.
　They have built a nest and there are nearly 100 of them solidly together.
　It's as if there are A-ranked and even S-ranked demonic beasts there.

　It's not difficult to protect your friends and fight them.
　But that's not really what we're looking for in a dungeon.
　This is not what Sarasa and the others want.

　If you can continue your current training, you'll be able to explore the dungeons alongside me sooner or later.
　I'm confident that you'll be strong.

But it's too early to tell. So I'll go and check out the dungeon first.

　It's for the safety of my people.
　And by extension, for me to move on to the next step.

　The reason why I offered to explore the Sealed Realm in the first place is also for the purpose of making myself stronger.

　I'll earn a lot of points and become even stronger as a [villager].
　It's also to make my friends stronger.

　Hearing my words, Rowan placed his hand on Cecil's head, his cheeks puffed out.

You're right. It's not fair that we're the only ones getting stronger. Lacelle has a right to be strong too.

Lacelle...

　Salatha squeezed my hand gently.

'Be careful. Make sure you come back alive.'

Yeah. If I think it's too dangerous, I'll retreat with [transfer].

Yes...... I believe in you.

　Salasa smiles.
　I could tell she was straining.
　Because the edges of her lips were quivering a little.

　I was encouraged by Cecil, by Rowan, and by the Chairman.

　And finally, I stepped into the sealed area.


　◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆


　According to [Mapping], the sealing area has a vertical structure of many layers of space.

　It's quite deep.
　Even with my magic output, I could only grasp up to 10 layers.
　There are probably more than that.
　I used to dive quite a few different dungeons in the past, but this is one of the top five deepest.

　I was frankly surprised that such a deep dungeon existed.

　It's not just deep.
　Each layer is also quite large.
　It's not as big as the royal capital, but it's big enough to fit a city in it.
　The horizontal and vertical holes were intricate, like a maze.

　The reason I didn't bring my friends with me was to grasp the structure.
　I can see the whole thing through [Mapping], but the distance my body feels is completely different from seeing it on a map.
　Besides, I also wanted to make sure what kind of monsters were there.

　Chapu.........

　I looked at my feet.
　Water.
　Enough to soak the soles of the boots I was wearing.
　The entire dungeon was covered in a thin layer of water.

　The sound of running water is coming from all over the cave.
　I can't hear other sounds well.
　I can't hear the footsteps and voices of monsters.

　I activated my magic once more.

　[Detection]

　I check for signs.

'That's a lot...'

　50.....
　No, there are a hundred of them.

　They were already surrounded.
　No, they were probably waiting for the adventurers who had entered the sealed area.
　One after another, monsters appeared from the rock face, the ceiling, or from the side holes.

''Guppepepepepepepepe!''

　A strange howl.
　Slippery scales.
　Water-scratched limbs.
　Rather large, well-developed light blue eyes and ears.

　It was a sahagin that showed up.

　But it wasn't just a sahagin.
　On its head, it had horns like a narwhal tiger.

''Sahagin Tempest........''

　An aquatic half-fish type monster.
　It is one of the strongest monsters among them.
　They always act in groups, and usually live in the water.
　It is somewhat intelligent, and its scales have a natural [air blocking] function attached to them.
　That's why I didn't notice it until I was surrounded.

　Sahagin Tempest's ability is not the only one.

　In a moment, the horns of the demonic beasts all light up at once.
　They flashed sharply like knives caught in the moonlight.

　''Biliriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

　A thunderous sound echoed through the dungeon.
　From the horns of the Sahagin Tempest, a thunderbolt was released.
　It wasn't just one.
　A hundred of them at the same time.

　Rather than a mere lightning strike, it was closer to a lightning ward.

　Moreover, the walls, the ground, and the ceiling.
　It's thin and watery.
　The lightning strike passed through the water(s).
　Furthermore, the groundwater is mixed with the body fluids of the Sahagin Tempest.
　This seemed to further increase the lightning penetration.

　The space immediately turned white.

　What could be heard was the sound of violent thunder.
　A strange odor pierced my nose.

　After a while, the thunderstorm stops.
　Smoke was rising from the heat.

"Gupepe!
Pepe Pepe!
Pepe!

　Sahagin Tempest and the others start to make a scene.
　I've killed them - or so they thought.
　They walked out of the flats and checked the bodies of the intruders.

　The strong lightning strike had naturally fallen on the Sahagintempses.
　But their bodies were unharmed.
　They hadn't suffered a single burn.

　That's because their bodies themselves are insulators, and their physical structures are designed to make it difficult for lightning strikes to pass through.
　They shoot lightning strikes themselves, so it was only natural....
　Furthermore, they had a body that was resistant to heat and had no trouble with both lightning and fire-attribute magic.

　Although it was set up as a B-rank, if it was a herd, it was more troublesome than a single individual A-ranked demonic beast.

　Hmph!

　One Sahagin Tempest's arm was blown off.
　A second one, then a third one, and then something that flew in, skewered it.
　Thinking that something strange had happened, the demonic beasts retreated once.
　After keeping their distance, they watched the situation.

　What emerged from the white steam was a large piece of ice.
　Seeing the human inside it, Sahagint Tempest began to make a commotion.

''Guppepee!

　The one who showed up was naturally me.
　No matter how troublesome a demon is, we can't afford to struggle in the early stages of the sealing area.

　I chanted the Chairman's eighteenth [Frozen Prison].
　I activated it before the lightning strike was fired and controlled it to become a wall.

　Ice is impervious to lightning.
　It doesn't prevent everything, but it can lighten the damage.
　Activating [Warrior (Warrior)]'s [Resistance Defense] and then [Cleric (Cleric)]'s [Attribute Enhancement], the damage to me was close to zero.

''Gupepepe??''

　I don't know what the hell happened.
　Just like that, Sahagint Tempest was fussed and surprised.
　The horns glowed again.

　Too late!

　I activated the magic.

　[Frozen prison]

　This time, he unleashed a broadside.
　The water on the ground immediately froze.
　Like an ice snake, it attacked the Sahagin Tempest.

　As I stuck out my fangs, I immediately iced the demonic beast.

　360 degrees, I'm surrounded by Sahagin's ice statues.

　No one is missing a shot.
　That dirty voice was never heard.

　[Stormy foam]

　The blast was unleashed on the surroundings.
　Rattled the Sahagins who had become ice statues.
　They break apart.
　They turned into tiny icicles and eventually melted into the darkness of the dungeon.

''Phew........''

　Something like this.....

　Not bad for a warm-up.

　The points are coming in.
　40,000 points.
　That's not a bad number.
　If we clear this floor, we might be able to acquire the magic we plan to use next.

　I was finally going to go deeper into the floor.