Defense Specialization and to the West

  The four that went to the west were Payne, Misery, Izu, and Kanade . And their mode of transportation was Ray, who could fly .

  “It seems like Dred’s team have succeeded in finishing a dungeon . ”


  “I’m not surprised . But judging by this speed, Mai and Yui must be doing well . ”


  The four were headed to an island that floated in the sky . There were many floating islands, and most of them were just there for the atmosphere, and could not be entered . However, there was one island that had a narrow area where you could just barely slip through .

  “It’s very strange that there’s just one . There must be something here . ”


  “Yes . But…… Ah, I knew they would come . ”


  As you could just barely invade it, it was no surprise that it was at the very edge of the map . And that meant that even from the sky, strong monsters would appear . Just like the four had predicted, devil monsters with bat-like wings and two horns on their heads came flying towards them .

  “I saw these on the ground too . They like to summon their minions . What should we do?”


  “We’re not far from the island . We should be able to get through if we can distract them for a second . ”


  “Fine . It’s settled then . Let’s go, Sou . ‘Sleeping Bubble,’ ‘Paralyze Shout . ’”


  An electric effect came out from the book, and bubbles that shone like the rainbow blew out . Every skill that Kanade could use, Sou could use as well . And while it didn’t work on all of them, the devils that were affected by the paralysis and sleep began to drop out of the air . And a path to the floating island was opened before them .

  “Ray, ‘Shooting Star’!”


  A light then enveloped Ray, as they all sat on it, and the tamed monster suddenly flew forward with accelerated speed .

  By using a charging skill, they would throw any monster who got in their way into the air, and reach the floating island at top speed .

  It went better than expected, and they were able to shake off the surrounding monsters as they approached the island .

  “Leave the enemies behind us to me!”


  “You should focus your skills on defeating the monsters that are ahead of us . ”


  And so Izu and Misery took on the roles of dealing with the monsters that pursued them . Payne and Kanade dealt with the rest .

  “Good . We can descend now . ”


  And like that, they safely arrived on the island . Payne returned Ray to its original size and then they inspected their surroundings . They had come down on a corner of the island that had a wide clearing as if it were just begging them to come down here . But the entire island itself was not that large, and you could walk from one corner to the other in a few minutes .

  “I guess we’ll have to go in this forest up ahead . ”


  “Yes . But keep your guard up . ”


  Payne took the lead as the four of them entered the forest . Apparently, monsters did not enter this forest, and it was clear that it was quite different from the other places .

  “Is that a mansion……?”


  “It looks like it . Should we go inside?”


  “Yeah, it’s not like we have a choice . ”


  And so they opened the front door and walked in . A vast entrance was before them, and in the center, there was a large magic circle that looked like it was drawn with blood . It was hard to look away from it .

  “I see . Well, it’s a good thing they made it easy to find . ”


  “I already made preparations for damage nullification in case it is a trap . ”


  Their support was ready . They had come all this way to complete dungeons, so there was no way that they would turn back now . However, it turned out that their worries were unfounded, and all four were soon surrounded by that familiar light . They waited for the light to die down and then they opened their eyes . What they saw was a long passage made of stone bricks . Behind them was a wall, which made it easy to know which way they were supposed to go .

  “Well, I guess we better go forward for now . ”


  “Yes . And I don’t sense any monsters . ”


  Just like before, Payne took the lead as they advanced . Then they came upon a wide open room with three doors . Each door had a different mark on it, a sword, staff, and spear . Clearly, they were supposed to mean something .

  “Maybe it’s supposed to tell us what kind of monster is behind it?”


  “I think so too . Then we should choose something that would be easy to deal with . ”


  And so the four discussed it and decided to choose the door with the sword on it . When they opened it, they came out into an arena without any obstacles . On the other side, there was a monster who wore armor and a helmet and wielded a great sword .

  “So, it really was about the monster . ”