Chapter 341

Defense Specialization and Under the Sand

They were now under the sand. There were neat walls and floors made of sandstone. And there were lights installed at equal intervals that showed them that they were currently inside of a building.

“We should have told you sooner.”

“Ohh, I’m sorry. This is my fault. I’ve fallen into dungeons like this before, so I knew that it could happen.”

During the second event, Maple had also been swallowed up in sand and was dropped into a dungeon with snails. Apparently, certain gimmicks and boss monsters were being recycled. And since they could not return to the field of the second event, it was a perfect gimmick to reuse.

“We knew that it was here. But we’ve never gone inside…”

“Well, we’ll get even more experience if we kill the boss…I think. So don’t worry. Let’s keep going.”

“Yes!”

As Velvet and Hinata had general information about the monsters in this dungeon, they did not feel very nervous as they started to explore.

“It should just be a lot of golems like the ones we saw up there. So let’s get through it as quickly as possible.”

According to their information, the goal was below. And so they walked in a straight line towards the lower level. Overall, the dungeon was built like an ants nest, and there were many paths and chambers.

Maple constantly had Dedicated Affection activated, and she used her weapons to fire at the monsters as soon as they appeared. The other two attacked with magic at the same time, and the monsters were quickly obliterated.

Like this, they reached the first chamber without any trouble. It was then that three golems that unlike the ones on the surface, were made entirely of sand, rose up.

“‘Commence Attack’!”

Maple faced the approaching sand giants and unleashed her bullets and beams. However, they went right through their bodies instead of damaging them.

“Hmm. I guess it’s no use.”

“It seems like it has to be attacks with attributes.”

In that case, it’s our turn. Velvet and Hinata seemed to say as they prepared their magic. But before they could do anything, the giant bodies crumbled back into loose sand. However, they then reappeared back in their original shape right before their eyes.

And they all attacked. However, such ambushes were meaningless as long as they stayed within range of Maple’s Dedicated Affection.

And so while fists of sand were slamming down right over Maple’s head, the only thing it caused was a dull ring.

And since Hinata knew that she was within its range, she abandoned any thoughts of dodging as she damaged the enemy with water and wind magic.

“Tsk… ‘Water Spear’!”

Velvet instinctively started to dodge it but then realized that there was no need. She paused mid step and then unleashed her magic. However, this unnecessary movement affected her aim.

“It’s fine! You two should focus on attacking!”

She reminded them that there was no need to dodge attacks. And so Bizarre Eater would not go to waste, she didn’t hold her shield up, but just used ‘Provoke’ as she stood there so all of the attacks would be concentrated on her. A fist that was the same size as her continued to pound on her head.

“Phew. I would probably be hammered into the ground if the floor wasn’t so hard.”

Maple decided to sit down and wait for the other two to finish killing the golems.

The golems would make sand burst out from the ground or create underlings or barriers of sand. And while it was all quite impressive that they kept changing strategies as they attacked Maple, the worst they could do was bury her in sand. And so without being able to do anything, they were eventually killed by magic.

“Are-are you okay…? You got buried.”

“Well, her HP hasn’t gone down.”

In front of them there was a big mountain of sand and some hair poking out of the top. As there was no more danger in the area, the two started to dig Maple out.

“Thank you! The monsters…”

“Hinata and I destroyed them.”

“Uh, thank you…for luring them.”

While the encounter rate was much lower here compared to the surface, they also earned more experience points, so their level grinding was going well as they continued.

“The monsters should be different once we reach the lower floors.”

“What kind of monsters?”

“Mummies, I think? …You know, those things that are all wrapped up.”

“While we know they’re different, we don’t know all of their attack patterns, so we’ll have to be careful.”

“Got it!”

The three of them killed a few more sand golems as they descended. And just like Velvet said, the monsters that came out started to change. Instead of sand golems, the monsters that appeared were humanoid and wrapped up in old bandages. There were eerie red eyes that glowed from between the gaps of their wrappings. And they gave off a very different impression from the power fighters that were the golems.

“For these kinds of enemies… ‘Throne of the Heavenly King’!”

Maple called out the pure white throne and sat on it. Then she activated a shining field on the ground. Velvet’s eyes widened. She had not expected Maple to have even more rare skills like this.

“This thing allows me to seal a lot of skills for monsters like zombies and ghosts!”

“I see. That will be useful.”

However, while they had anticipated that these monsters would have some kind of troublesome method of attack, they were currently just trying to bite and scratch Maple.

“Usually I can move around while on this throne, but there isn’t enough space here…”

As she would not be able to use it for a while if she erased it once, it was difficult to use in environments where she couldn’t set it on Syrup’s back.

“Uhh, I see that it’s very useful… Um, I hope you can use it during the boss fight.”

The boss in this area was a giant mummy that would summon all of the monsters they had seen on the way. If Maple was able to make not just the golems, but also the mummies harmless, they would be able to kill the boss quickly and go back outside. And so Maple quickly activated her skill in order to kill the mummies that were swarming around them.

“Alright, ‘Predator’ won’t work, so… ‘Deploy all Weapons’!”

Maple spread out her weapons and the mummies were blown away by the cannons and they fell to the ground. As their movements were slow, Maple was able to target them easily with her bullets.

“Hmm. They have a lot of HP, though.”

But she continued to direct her cannons at them and fired at point blank. Even the tough mummies could not survive this, and they fell down and burst into light.

“Well, at least they’re slow. So it’s easy…ah, you’re done.”

They decided to kill the rest that they encountered with gunfire and ranged attacks as they headed to the boss room. While she couldn’t keep using Throne of the Heavenly King, it wasn’t too much trouble when she had Dedicated Affection. Ultimately, the three of them reached the boss room without taking any damage. And here they waited until Maple could use Throne of the Heavenly King again, and then they charged into the room.