The depth and the height from the floor to the ceiling must be around a hundred meters each.
"What's this about…?"
The structure of this room seemed to be almost encouraging intruders to engage in a fierce battle.
Though bewildered, we moved towards the back of the room.
"Uh… ah…"
There it was.
The so-called master of the dungeon.
A creature covered in black fur, much like the monsters we had encountered so far.However, it was huge.
Nearly ten meters in length, with two massive horns protruding from its head.
Its face resembled less a werewolf and more a bull-man.
Yes, it was like a gigantic bull standing upright on two legs, walking like a human.
Not just its size, but every muscle in its body was visibly bulging.
Even to an amateur like me, it looked formidable.
As I stood there, trembling in fear and unable to speak,
"GRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
The monster let out an incredibly cliché and understandable roar.
"…!"
At that moment, the monster's movement exceeded my expectations.
In an instant, it leaped up to the ceiling and then plummeted down towards us, headfirst.
Saffron turned invisible and moved away, while Iris, holding me, leaped backward.
We all managed to avoid the monster's initial attack, but I was already scared to the point of nearly wetting myself within thirty seconds of entering the room.
The monster, having landed where we were just standing, tore the ground apart with its claws, scattering a thunderous noise around.
Its appearance did not betray its power.
And then, there was its speed, which was unbelievably fast for its enormous size.
Let's just say it outright - it was terrifying!
What was this?
Do heroes normally fight such beasts as part of their daily routine?
Why did I ever aspire to be something that regularly encounters and battles such creatures?
Objectively, this was a monster that could easily massacre a hundred humans in a few minutes.
"Crow! Stay back!" Iris shouted, holding me and wielding her ice sword.
I wanted to run without being told, but I didn’t have the courage to turn my back to such a creature.
Besides, it would surely catch up and brutally kill me if I tried to run.
"Hehehe! This is exactly what I've been waiting for!" Saffron, holding the relatively knife-sized Kultana, fearlessly engaged the beast in close combat.
Even though she was invisible, it was sheer insanity.
"…!"
The monster, despite her invisibility, seemed to accurately perceive Saffron's location and swung its massive arms in her direction.
"Saffron! Don't overestimate your invisibility! It won't work on a creature with a keen sense of smell!"
"Hehehehehehe!"
However, Saffron effortlessly dodged the ferocious attacks from the massive arms and proceeded to slash at the monster's limbs.Saffron's blows turned the monster's arms into tattered pieces.
It was an extraordinary display of combat skills.
Then, Iris, who had been observing from the side, suddenly plunged her ice sword into the ground.
"Saffron, back off!" she commanded.
Sensing Iris's intent, Saffron obediently withdrew. At that moment, tremendous cold air emitted from the ice sword, crawling along the floor straight towards the monster.
The monster was instantly frozen at its feet, stuck to the floor.
"Saffron, aim for the head! The head!" Iris instructed.
"Okay! Let's try throwing!" Saffron wound up and threw one of the vacuum swords directly at the monster's head.
The sword, glowing purple, spun rapidly and pierced the monster's head in an instant.
"Wow…" Even Saffron seemed surprised by her own feat.
The thrown sword continued its trajectory, embedding itself deeply into a distant wall. Yet, as Saffron extended her hand, the sword returned to her at the same speed, and she effortlessly caught it.
She then inspected the vacuum swords in her hands for a while.
The power from just one throw was immense. Given Saffron's skills, she could probably throw both simultaneously or throw one while retrieving the other, allowing for endless possibilities.
"This is useful... this thing," she muttered.
"Saffron, the dungeon hasn't disappeared yet. Let's finish this," Iris said, approaching the now motionless monster.
Saffron, without lowering her guard, also moved closer to deliver the final blow.
Watching them, I finally understood, truly and deeply...
We live in different worlds.
When I had rescued Iris with Cattleya Instructor and Saffron, I almost misunderstood the situation. But it's clear now.
The world I live in, and theirs, are not just different; they're in entirely different dimenshions.
This becomes clear in desperate situations like this.
They are capable of fulfilling their roles as companions of Shion, the hero.
They may not be the protagonists, but they certainly possess the strength to be key characters.In addition to these two, if we include Cattleya Instructor, fulfilling the significant role of companions to the hero should be easy.
But I am different.
I'm not even a main character, let alone a secondary one. Just a member of the anonymous crowd.
An ordinary person whose life could be lost at any moment. Someone whose presence or absence makes no difference.
"I knew it... I knew it all along," I muttered softly to myself, feeling more dejected than ever.
Surrounded by real talents, I felt a sense of alienation that nearly drove me mad. I've always been a loner, with no friends.
Anyway, once Iris and Saffron finish off the dungeon's master, there should be nothing left for me to do. If the water shortage in this area is indeed caused by this dungeon, Iris's concerns should be resolved.
I'll probably stay in the region for a while, making sure the water source has fully recovered...
"That's strange, isn't it? You guys are really strange."
Startled, I felt something like a scythe pressed against my neck from behind.
Iris and Cattleya, who were about to deliver the final blow to the dungeon's master, turned around in shock.
"I've been coming and going in this dungeon for ten days, never reaching the deepest part. How come you know the shortest route?"
I turned to face the person holding the scythe-like weapon at my neck.
With her long, peach-colored hair and dark circles under her eyes, her skin was pale as if she were a zombie. Dressed like a witch in a triangular hat and a cloak, she wielded a long scythe-like saintly sword.
"Cineraria..."
"Oh? Remembering the face and name of someone you've only met once? That's rare."
"Normally, I would forget, but not you."
"Is that so? Well, I'm not exactly happy to be remembered by you."
"I don't think I've been acting all that important, have I?"
Somehow, I found myself speaking politely to Cineraria, standing behind me.In this situation, where I might have my throat slit at any moment, it might be pointless to be considerate to the other party.
"You do act like it," Cineraria said, still holding the saintly sword, the Hades Sword, as she got closer, pressing her body against my back. "You have no basis for it. Do you understand? Ruling classes without any real power or reason, just being alive is a crime. If the nobility, the royalty, were strong, wise, and capable, then there would be no misfortune in this world. The misfortunes that occur are all because the rulers dominate others without any basis. What's needed is a basis. When those who have no right to rule decide everything, that's when everything falls into chaos."
I didn't understand what she was getting at. She seemed to despise privileged classes like nobility and royalty, but why direct such hostility towards me?
"Why do you, a worthless guy, control such talented young ladies? What basis do you have to manipulate women who wield saintly swords?"
"I'm not controlling them..."
"You are. If you're taken hostage, they won't move, will they?"
"That's because their ethics dictate to help me..."
"Are you, by any chance, really skilled in 'that' area?"
"That area?"
Cineraria reached from behind, touching my groin area.