42 Chapter 42: 12Th Floor
"Is everything okay, with you two?" I asked as we descended
"E-Everything's fine..." Said Serena with a nervous expression
Ariel slowly nodded with an equally nervous expression
"I'll take that as a no. But it makes sense, we're heading into a floor where we'll encounter monsters even stronger than the one we just beat." I said
Right now would be a good time to try and calm them down, but I'm not sure if I should. Ever since we've entered this dungeon, it's felt as if it has been targeting us. We need to be on alert if we want to survive this.
Even if we do manage to survive, coming back would be risky... We could start going to the other 3 dungeons but if they target us, we might really be goners... Honestly, It's starting to annoy me how we're getting targetted... But for now, there's nothing I can do about it.
"Can't you try making it sound less scary?!" Said Serena as she started trembling
Ariel nodded at what Serena said and they stood close together. Now that I think about it, As far as I can remember, Serena and Ariel have been close. They sort of resemble sisters. A black-haired angel and a silver-haired half-elf.
"Pfff" I accidentally let out
"I-It's not funny!!" Shouted Serena
"Y-Yes!" Added Ariel
"It's not that, I just finally realised that you two are like sisters," I said
"Sis-ters?" Muttered Ariel as she looked over at Serena with lit eyes
"W-Well, I suppose we are like sisters..." Muttered Serena
At Serena's words, Ariel let out a bright smile as she nodded and said "Big sister. Serena is a great big sister"
Hearing this Serena gave Ariel a big hug
"That's right, you can count on your big sister to protect you." Said Serena with a happy expression as she continued to hug Ariel
"Yeah, but in this case, I wonder who would be the older sister... Serena's slightly taller but..."
"Oi, what were you just about to say?" Asked Serena as she stared straight at me
"Haha, nothing," I said
"You were going to say something insulting weren't you!?" Asked Serena as she
"I-It's fine, Serena, You can be the older sister so..." Said Ariel as she tried stopping her
"T-Thanks Ariel, but when you say it like that it sounds like you're pitying me..." Said Serena as she made a dejected expression
Seeing these two act this way, I felt my the fear and nervousness get washed away. They also looked as if they had calmed down and were having fun. I couldn't help but let out a smile
"What's gotten you so happy?" Asked Serena as she continued to pull my cheeks
"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you two here," I said
If I were alone in a situation like this, I don't know what I'd do. But with these two here, I can feel most of my worries disappear. No matter what... I can't do anything that will put their lives at risk. That is my responsibility as their leader and...
"W-Why do you always say these things at these moments..." Asked Serena with a reddened expression
"W-We're lucky to have you here too..." Said Ariel with blushed cheeks
"Thanks," I replied with a smile
But she's right... Did I make a mistake saying that... In most books I've read, usually when a person does that, doesn't something bad usually happens afterwards..? Isn't this called setting up a flag..? Nah, there's no way, this is reality after all... There's no such thing as flags... right..?
"Sorry, I am very sorry," I Said as I bowed my head
"Why are you suddenly apologising?!" Asked Serena with a shocked expression
"Y-You don't have to apologise! What's wrong?" asked Ariel while startled
"No I've just been doing something stupid this whole time, and only realised it now," I Said with a straight expression
"O-Okay..?" Muttered Serena...
After that interaction, we had finally reached the door to the 11th floor. We entered the 11th floor and slowly climbed down the stairs. I could feel that the girls were nervous but it wasn't as much as before.
We continued to walk down the stairs for what felt like minutes until we finally reached the floor. There were rocks everywhere and it looked like a giant cave.
I cast deprehendre and didn't spot anything unusual
"Let's go," I said as I began to walk forward
The two girls silently nodded and followed behind me
At the end of the cave stood a door to the next room which was most likely the boss room. That being said, do monsters that aren't the boss stop appearing after the 10th floor? There weren't any on the 11th floor. Unless...
Just as I thought that most of the giant boulders around us turned into a humanoid looking golem which carried stone weapons. We were completely surrounded.
"Looks like I was right..." I muttered
"About what?" Asked Serena
"The reason we didn't encounter any monsters aside from the Boss in the previous floor, was because the eel ate them all," I said
Speaking of eating... We should have our lunch after we deal with these golems. We also need to rest up... I haven't gotten any rest from the fight with the eel... My muscles feel sore and I can still feel the fatigue from the fight... Maybe coming down here without resting wasn't such a good idea...
The golems approached us, and we stuck close together. We were using the back to back-formation, which we practised in cases we get surrounded. Each one of us will face a direction and attack anything that gets close. With the 3 of us, we're able to cover 360 degrees.
With this we should be fine, they're obviously weaker than the previous boss... Let's just hope I have enough magic power...