“All preparations were in place, and I was ready to go… but now what?”

I had taken down the other monsters almost simultaneously, so doing the same thing again felt repetitive.

The Giant Apes wouldn’t spawn so quickly, but waiting for the poison to take effect wasn’t an option.

“Hmm… huh?”

As I mulled over what to do while dodging a few stray rocks, I noticed a strong magical presence at the edge of my vision, near the entrance.

When I looked, I saw Zighart stepping out of the passage into the open area.

…He was preparing a spell, building up his magical power.

We had agreed he’d wait until I called for backup, but this… was this his way of saying time’s up?

When our eyes met, he waved his hand in a clear “turn around” gesture.

So, it was happening.

Well, even though I had taken down the Giant Apes, it had taken too long. I couldn’t argue with his decision.

With a sigh, I turned my back to the battlefield. Of course, I didn’t forget to withdraw the snakes and deactivate 【Fairy’s Eye】.

It was a bit nerve-wracking to turn my back on monsters, but with Zighart, it would be over in an instant.

“Whoa!?”

Just as I had those thoughts, an intense light burst out behind me, so strong I could feel it even with my back turned.

Next came the sound of a deafening explosion echoing through the area.

…Or so I thought. Nothing happened.

Confused, I hesitated about whether to look back, when I heard Zighart’s voice from below.

“Sera! It’s over.”

It seemed he was done.

When I turned around to check, there wasn’t a single cloud of dust like when I unleashed 【Danrem’s Thread】, nor a single corpse left behind.

…What the heck just happened?

◇

After finishing the battle in the lower hall, we decided to head back since our objective was complete.

There was no rush, so unlike our trip in, we jogged back at a leisurely pace while chatting.

I couldn’t help but ask Zighart about the fight in the lower hall. How did he manage it?

He had taken out over 20 monsters at once, yet there was no trace of a fight.

The disappearance of the corpses could be explained by him destroying the cores. I knew Zighart could destroy multiple cores at once; I’d seen him do it before.

But with no damage to the ground or any other traces, it was borderline eerie.

“Ah, it wasn’t a straight shot—I fired in curves. Watching you shoot arrows gave me the idea. It’s wasteful if the power gets absorbed by obstacles, right? Archers do something similar, so I figured, why not with magic?”

“…Huh.”

He said it so casually, but wasn’t that a pretty big deal?

What he was describing was essentially curved shooting. Normally, curved shots involve firing upward and letting gravity bend the trajectory.

However, magic doesn’t lose its potency to obstacles like physical arrows do, nor does it fall due to gravity.

So, he must have used some sort of advanced technique to alter the trajectory mid-flight.

And not just to curve the magic, but to precisely hit the cores without piercing through the monsters.

Moreover, he did this for dozens of simultaneous shots.

What kind of monster is this guy?

“Most of the work was done by you immobilizing them, though. It was easy enough.”

“…Right, sure.”

I could barely comprehend it at this point.

“Anyway, about that…”

“Hm?”

It didn’t seem like a trivial matter, but what was he getting at?

“My bad… I ended up finishing them off. I was told to step in if it looked like the monsters would respawn faster than you could handle them. You could’ve done it yourself, though.”

“Ah… don’t worry about it.”

I see. So, Seriana must’ve instructed him to take over if I was struggling.

Sure, I probably could have done it alone, but it would’ve been a grind.

Leaving poisoned monsters alive wasn’t ideal either. I might’ve eventually opted to retreat anyway.

At least now I knew the power of the “Combustion Orbs,” and I’d achieved my goals.

With today’s results in mind, I’d have to rethink my strategy. A second attempt at the lower levels could wait until I was better prepared.

And… I did manage to snag two holy coins. That’s a solid win.

◇

After returning from the dungeon, I headed back to the estate and took a refreshing bath.

Instead of going to Seriana and the others in the office, I made my way to the underground lab where Zighart and Fiora were.

Inside, I found not just the two of them but also several assistants working on various tasks.

Fiora held what looked like a checklist, a satisfied smile on her face as she reviewed it.

“Welcome back. Zigh told me things went well.”

“Yeah, I managed to use it properly.”

The “Combustion Orbs” had already been tested for effectiveness, but since they were practically custom-made for me, Fiora needed my feedback before considering them complete.

“The orbs use monster cores as materials. We have no shortage of cores here, but the processing takes about a week. So, let me know in advance if you need more.”

“Got it. Sounds like a bit of a hassle, though.”

When I said that, Fiora pointed to a shelf on the wall.

The shelf held numerous devices that looked like siphons, each dripping liquid drop by drop.

“We’re extracting magic power from the cores and magic stones. It’s a passive process, but it takes time.”

“…I see.”

I wasn’t sure how much material was needed, but it definitely looked like a time-consuming operation.

That said, since we had access to the dungeon, we could always collect more cores alongside the monsters.

If it came down to it, I could even submit a request for more materials.

Though production took time, as long as I managed the stock properly, I wouldn’t have to worry about running out.

With that, I’d be ready to tackle the lower levels whenever necessary.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Seria ・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind Cloak】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy Eyes】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Snake’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】・15 cards

Seriana ・【Range Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena ・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec ・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・8 cards