Live Dungeon!

For nearly three hours, Tsutomu and his party had been clearing out the monsters that spawned in the corridors of the ninety-sixth layer. They hunted down enemies of various attributes, collected Magic Stones from their remains, and repeated the loop through the donut-shaped area three full times before Tsutomu finally raised his voice.

”That should be enough. Amy, Xeno, you two take the load north. Garm, Amira, head south with the rest.”

”…Tch.”

”Look, sorry for making you do all the heavy lifting, all right? I’ll make it up to you soon enough. We’re just getting to the fun part.”

It was only natural that Amira clicked her tongue like a sulky teenager; to prevent leaks, she had deliberately been kept uninformed of the plan. Still, she followed instructions, albeit with visible reluctance. The others understood the rationale and showed no particular reaction. If anything, they seemed faintly amused by her attitude.

The ninety-sixth layer, as Tsutomu saw it, was essentially the stress relief stage of Live Dungeon. It was designed from the ground up as a raucous, bombastic battlefield, where players could use stage gimmicks to mow down hordes after hordes of monsters as if they were playing a tower defense game. From its structure and mechanics, it was clear that the developers intended it to be a cathartic experience.

In the game, players were given five minutes to gather Magic Stones by fighting monsters. Then, using Dragon statues positioned outside the ancient castle, the team split into two roles: one squad would defend against the incoming waves using the Dragons, while the other would continue gathering Magic Stones. The goal was to prevent the castle’s durability from reaching zero.

Players who mastered the defense weapons and kept up a strong supply line of Magic Stones could breeze through the stage. The rewards were generous, and the efficiency it offered made it a favored bonus stage among players.

Back then, Tsutomu had never skipped a daily run.

But in this world, there was no system message to announce the start of the invasion. On his first attempt, Tsutomu had realized something was off right off the bat: no wave of monsters came after the usual five-minute mark. Suspecting a different trigger, he tested it carefully under a strict information embargo and discovered that unless a Magic Stone was physically offered to the Dragon statues, the enemy hordes would not appear.

From then on, Tsutomu had kept that detail under wraps. He used the knowledge to buy time, stalling Ealdred Crow’s progress on this very layer.

But that was over now. The stalling had served its purpose. And so, with enough Magic Stones to last them three hours, he prepared the final step: complete domination of the battlefield.

In Live Dungeon, gathering and defending had to be performed simultaneously, making it a challenge for parties unfamiliar with the mechanics. But here, perhaps due to the added challenge of having to physically feed the Magic Stones as well as the Explorers’ limited inventory spaces, there was no five-minute restriction. They could collect as many stones as they liked in advance and unleash them all at once, overwhelming the enemy in a controlled blaze of fury.

[Feels like I’m the Devourer Dragon now,] Tsutomu thought with a smirk, recalling the massive beast from some time ago.

He motioned for Amy and Xeno to pull out the stones from their Magic Bags and feed them directly into the living, breathing stone Dragon statues. The statues exhaled softly, as though awakening, accepting the Magic Stones with a low hum.

Tsutomu then explained to Amy how the Dragons worked: they responded to the user’s will. As Amy was already familiar with how to manipulate the God Eyes, she quickly understood that they operated on the same general principle.

At Tsutomu’s instruction, she began shooting fireballs with Inferno Magic Stones at the slowly materializing enemies beyond the outer walls. Watching her test out the controls, Xeno joined in. He, too, was adept at manipulating God Eyes, and it took no time before the two were seamlessly operating the Dragon’s attacks.

Satisfied, Tsutomu left the northern front to them and headed south via [, circling around the outer edge of the Ancient Castle. When he arrived, Amira looked up, visibly surprised to see him gliding in, but her expression quickly soured again. She pointed out toward the horizon.

”There’s a whole damn horde crawling this way. You want me to drop down and handle it?”

”No, we’ll take them out from here. Come with me for a bit, and I’ll show you how things work.”

Though still skeptical, Amira followed him. After a brief explanation, she learned how to operate the stone Dragons and took to it with surprising enthusiasm. For a while, she manipulated them like a kid enjoying an amusement park ride. But her interest soon waned, and she returned with a vaguely disappointed look.

”So this is how we’re killing ’em? Just… chucking fireballs?”

”Yeah, pretty much.”

”…Well, it’s not really my thing.”

”Fair enough,” Tsutomu chuckled. ”It’s more like a slaughter than a battle. Doesn’t exactly suit your style… Actually, you know what, the northern side might need backup soon. Amy and Xeno may have to fight directly if the enemies keep coming. Mind heading over to support them?”

”Sure. Sounds like a better use of my time.”

With that, Amira activated her [, spreading brilliant red wings, and launched into the air with [.

Tsutomu took her place and began operating the Dragon statue alongside Garm, launching fireball after fireball at the approaching monsters. Garm stood beside him, eyes narrowing as he watched the endless swarm pour in from beyond the walls.

”At this pace, they’ll overwhelm us with sheer numbers. I guess the attacks will escalate from here?”

”Ah, no need to worry. It’s about to level up,” Tsutomu said casually as he continued launching fireballs without pause.

Just then, the Dragon statue began to change. Cracks split through the horns atop its head, and a deep, molten glow seeped into the fissures as if the stone itself had caught fire. The next fireball it discharged grew dramatically in size. What had once barely engulfed two or three monsters now swept through ten.

Garm flinched at the sudden surge in power.

”As I understand it, all the experience points from those monsters outside are being absorbed by the Dragon,” Tsutomu explained. ”In exchange, it levels up and gets stronger. Keep this up, and we’ll have no trouble wiping out the next wave.”

Without understanding that it functioned like the God Eye or that it could level up, one might mistake the Dragon statues for little more than an ornamental defense mechanism. That was exactly the trap Ealdred Crow had fallen into. As always, they had tried to brute-force their way through with Explorers alone, and since they’d failed to decipher the statues’ mechanics, they hadn’t managed to utilize them at all.

But once the Dragons’ first level-up was achieved through persistent use, their power scaled quickly. Tsutomu took turns with Garm to check on Amy’s side, confirming their situation was under control, all while continuing to raise their side’s Dragon’s level.

The statue, once little more than a vaguely draconic slab of animated rock, gradually transformed into something far more imposing. Its size expanded, its aura deepened, and its attacks grew increasingly devastating.

”Ohhh, yeah… Sweep them all away…” Tsutomu said, his tone more absentminded than dramatic.

Obeying the command, the Dragon opened its maw and released a beam of pure magical energy. Then it twisted its neck, carving a swath of white-hot destruction across the battlefield. The sweeping light incinerated thousands of monsters in a single stroke, the heat and pressure sending Tsutomu and Garm’s hair fluttering wildly.

”…That’s terrifying,” Garm muttered, his voice edged with awe.

”I bet Korinna’s party is doing even more damage,” Tsutomu replied with a chuckle. ”Those three really understood this layer inside and out.”

Leleia and Diniel had no qualms about mass monster slaughter, and Daryl’s earnest nature would ensure they leveled their Dragon as much as possible. In fact, Tsutomu could picture Korinna getting all flustered as she orchestrated the carnage, and all the while, he continued the relentless extermination.

When the final wave, too vast for any team of Explorers to handle alone, was wiped out, the Dragon vanished into thin air. In its place, the Black Gate materialized into view.

Soon after, Tsutomu regrouped with Amy, who was now strutting about like some self-appointed commander. With the path ahead open, the party descended into the ninety-seventh layer of the Dungeon.