CHAPTER 260.2 - FROM THE BOTTOM OF FREEZING WATER

It couldn't be helped— We would just have to come back another time. Considering the fact that we survived the ambush without losing anyone or sustaining any serious injuries, I decided to call that a major success.

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And then, three days later…

We fought against the two twin sharks again in the snow field.

「Now, Hayama-kun!」

「Here we come the big one————『Summon Thunder』!」

The smartphone gripped in Hayama-kun's proudly raised right hand emitted a dazzling purple glow.

The next moment, a lightning bolt struck the shark, who was struggling after being tied up with my 『Black Hair Bind』.

JIGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

The shark raised a piercing scream. The lightning bolt scorched its dorsal fin black and delivered a devastating critical hit, as if piercing through its back.

But it wasn’t dead yet. It was screaming while struggling violently, twisting its body in an attempt to break free from my restraints.

「DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!」

Another lightning bolt struck, causing the shark’s body to jolt high into the air… And this time, it finally stopped moving.

「Fuh, victory at last.」

「Yeah!! We did it! Hey, did you see that, Momokawa? I'm really awesome, right!?」

「I saw it properly.」

Hayama-kun's childlike excitement was endearing.

Come to think of it, this might be the first time he had taken down a mid-sized monster almost entirely on his own. Seeing tangible results like this really was exciting.

「But… I'm so exhausted…」

「Thanks for the hard work, Hayama-kun.」

I never expected that 『Summon Thunder』 which I thought was a one-shot finishing move, to be usable twice in a row. He was growing steadily as a spiritualist.

I’d like to think my 『Water Current Circuit』 contributed at least a little, but I wonder if it really did its job.

「Yup, even this kind of enemy is a piece of cake as long as we make adequate preparation.」

「Well, it's less difficult compared to Yamata no Orochi.」

On the other side, the other shark had already been beaten down by Rem, Kinako, and the two gores, lying defeated on the ground.

Once Kyouko shot its fin and took away its mobility in the snow, well, the rest was history.

This time, thanks to our thorough preparation and well-executed strategy, we secured an effortless victory.

Firstly, to ensure the safety of our rear guard—Kyouko, Hayama-kun, and me—who would be in trouble if targeted right away, we built a makeshift bunker in the middle of the snowy field. With Kyouko’s skills, something like this could be constructed in a short time. We had prepared it yesterday while keeping an eye out for sharks.

Furthermore, I personally inscribed magic circles around the bunker, setting up traps that would trigger enhanced 『Black Hair Bind』 to bind the coming sharks.

My preparation was perfect with this.

After that, just like last time, we continued walking toward the boss room. Riding on Alfa, my shadow led a horde of summoned High Zombies and Skeletons, acting as a conspicuous decoy.

I was slightly worried whether such obvious bait would work, but we successfully caught the shark. Suddenly, an ambush attack erupted from the snowy plains, taking down several high-level zombies and a large number of skeletons. They fulfilled their role as decoys perfectly, going down in a spectacular fashion.

And so, my shadow shouted, "Oh no, I don't know about this ambush!", while making its way back toward the bunker.

As expected, the twin sharks took the bait and chased after the decoy, only to be ambushed by our main force, which was lying in wait, fully prepared———— And well, the rest was history.

「What are you going to do with the sharkwood, Kotaro?」

「Let’s just take the core and move on. It felt like a perfect warm-up before taking on the boss.」

I kind of wanted the shark materials, but given our limited loading capacity, it was not something we absolutely had to collect.

Even if we turned them into corpse dolls, we wouldn’t be able to control it properly due to its complexity. If we did, it would mean trading out two gores.

The two sharks may have evolved for ambush tactics in the snow field, but the reliable and proven gores were definitely the better choice.

By the way, let's just retrieve the core and go on.

「Roge~r!」

「Let me take a break later.」

「Sure thing. Let's take a break in front of the boss's room.」

And so, we finally cleared out the obstacles and headed toward the mysterious structure that was housing the boss room.

As expected, no more sharks appeared, and we arrived at the building.

The box-shaped building was impressive in size, but structurally, it was a flawless "tofu architecture". Its exterior was pure white and perfectly square. Thanks to its excellent preservation, there weren’t even any cracks, making it look unmistakably like a giant block of tofu.

We boldly entered through the front entrance, which was a large, glass-like transparent door.

「Glad the entrance was big. I was worried Grilin wouldn’t be able to fit into the entrance.」

I always worry about that when we infiltrate buildings. Right now, we still need both Grimgore and Roilops.

「It looks like a huge building.」

「What kind of place is this?」

Hayama-kun was looking around curiously, but I had no idea what this place was either. The interior was relatively clean, but there was nothing particularly eye-catching.

However, the interior was quite spacious. In addition to a corridor leading further in, there was a slope instead of stairs going down to the lower floor, giving the place a bit of a multi-level parking garage vibe.

Thanks to that, we could bring Grimgore and Roilops with us and head straight downstairs.

「The boss room might be just ahead of us.」

Following the guidance of the compass, we made our way downward.

Somehow, everyone remained silent as we advanced, which subtly heightened the tension.

However, no monsters appeared along the way. The facility was eerily silent, and there was no sign that any creatures were lurking within.

It was a good thing that we could go straight to the boss without being harassed by small fry, but… Was it really going to be that simple?

With a sudden sense of unease creeping up on us, we finally arrived at the lowest floor.

「Hey, this door is close shut, can we open it?」

「This facility seems to be still operational. It should be possible to open it with magic.」

Just like opening a treasure chest, I swiftly held out my hand, and with that alone, the pure white door slid open mechanically.

There was no doubt that the boss monster had been waiting for us behind this door.

A familiar teleportation magic circle was engraved right in the center of the spacious circular hall.

「Wooo~w, doesn't this look like an aquarium?」

「It's a full-wall aquarium!」

Hayama-kun and Kyouko let out an excited voices. Even for me, the sight of the hall, with its four transparent walls perfectly displaying the lakebed, was quite breathtaking.

Honestly, if someone told me this was just an aquarium, I might actually believe it.

However, I didn't know how it was in the past, but right now, this place was functioning as a dungeon. That means something must be here, without a doubt.

「———— Where's the boss?」

That's why it was strange that the boss monster was nowhere to be seen in this hall.

There were no obstacles in the hall, nor any places to hide. It was pretty obvious at a glance that there was no one here, and nothing in sight.

However, the fact that the compass was unmistakably pointing its needle toward the teleportation magic circle engraved in the center of the hall proves that this was undoubtedly the boss room.

「Does that mean the boss has already been defeated?」

The gogma party had been here. It was not impossible that they might have already beaten the boss.

No, it was too soon to assume the boss wasn't here. There might be some kind of mechanism that triggers its summoning.

「Anyhow, let's examine the center of the room for now.」

「C'mon dude~, it's obvious that there's nothing here, isn't it?」

「Yeah, it's just a giant aquarium, and there's really nothing he————Whoa! Did something passed just now!?」

Hayama-kun shouted as he ran toward the hall.

「What do you mean?」

「Yeah, I saw something moving in the water. Is it another sharks?」

I see, you're talking about the other side of the aquarium, inside the lake. If there were fish swimming in the lake, it makes sense that we’d be able to watch them from this aquarium hall.

However, if something was swimming in this lake filled with a mysterious, non-freezing liquid instead of regular water, it might be a troublesome monster. Even if it was only an evolved form of those twin sharks, it would still be a significant threat.

But if it was not inside this boss room, then it was only a wild monster living in the lake, not the boss monster. This place was merely an aquarium that lets us see outside, it was not designed to draw monsters in from the lake… Right?

「Ah, I also saw something moving over there! It flashed over there!」

「It's coming toward us!」

「C'mon you two, just because the boss isn't prese————」

When I shot the two of them an exasperated look, thinking they were getting way too excited as if this were an aquarium…

「A-Aaaah…」

「K-Kotaro…」

Neither of them had even a hint of a cheerful smile. Instead, their faces were twisted in horror, as if they had just witnessed a monstrous abomination.

Hayama-kun, in particular, looked like he was about to collapse, color drained from his face as he trembling from head to toe..

Kyouko’s expression was frozen in fear, yet even with trembling hands, she readied her shotgun.

Naturally, there was no way she was going to shoot me. I knew that much.

Because the terrified gaze she directed wasn’t at me, but at something behind me.

BurbleBurbleBurble!

Even through the thick aquarium glass, I could feel the heavy exhale bubbling up from underwater.

Even someone as dull as I could sense the overwhelming presence behind me. When I turned around to look at the aquarium right behind me—— I saw that guy.

「Found yaaa———— Kotaro-kyu~n.」

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My first CN project, why waifu though? Well, coz the main heroine's job is buying soy sauce till the end of act 1

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Harem, Hero, Demon King, Seven Deadly Sin, Seven Virtue, Sacred Beast, Sword and Magic, Dystopian Future, DESTINY PROJECT HAD IT REALIZED!, Dungeon, Dragon, 72 Demons, Reincarnations

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