Chapter 20

Episode 20: Beautiful Girls Are Given Two Gifts by the Gods

An element that wasn’t fully explored in the original work is the Dungeon Streaming.

At first, it was incorporated as one of those typical elements you’d expect from a certain type of story, but eventually, the narrative shifted to intense ability battles, and streaming was no longer depicted.

So, I don’t really know much about streaming or streamers.

“Hey, both of you, come closer! Give peace signs to the drone camera!”

Saying this, Jouka enthusiastically put her arm around us.

Toa, encountering someone who’s completely opposite to herself, is utterly confused.

“Hey, Toa Moon Palace, give a peace sign too!”

“???? …Uh, y-yeah?”

“Aww, so cute!”

I get it!

“…So, do you have any business with us?”

“Let’s make a deal.”

Facing the drone camera, Jouka clearly said this.

Near her, there seems to be a window floating with comments from viewers, but from here, the text appears reversed and unreadable.

Ah, only the word ‘grass’ is visible.

“I still want to learn a lot more about Factom General Academy. Therefore, I wish to conduct an official interview next time. In return—”

Around Jouka, frogs appear.

Such a large swarm that counting them feels futile from the start.

Now knowing that each of them carries high-powered bombs, I understand what she’s getting at.

“I’ll help you get rid of those nuisances over there. They seem to be causing trouble using Kisou Academy’s name… killing two birds with one stone, right?”

“…I’ll inform our Student Council President about the interview.”

“Yup yup, deal made! Everyone watching, the next stream will be live from Factom General Academy!”

Jouka cheerfully jumps around laughing.

Suddenly, flames streak past her.

“…Damn, missed.”

Looking closely, she’s throwing flames like balls from her body.

Is that strong? Feels kinda iffy?

“You look familiar. You’re the runaway being pursued by Kisou Academy’s discipline committee and Enforcers, right? Might as well crush you too and collect the reward while I’m at it!”

Do you not remember what just happened?

Weren’t you just getting blown up?

With declarations of defeating us confidently, the student and their henchmen A and B follow along, prompting me to sigh inwardly.

Hmm, looks like we need to beat them up thoroughly once.

“Miss Jouka, so then―huh?”

Turning to Jouka expecting her cooperation, she’s sending cold glares towards the students.

The brightness from before has vanished, and even her teeth grinding can be heard.

But noticing my gaze, she quickly changes her expression and nods with a smile.

“Yup yup, let’s do our best! So, to quickly deal with those bastards―let’s duel, shall we?”

“Duel?”

“Wait, are we supposed to?”

A duel is something used when few individuals compete for the rights to explore a dungeon.

If it becomes a battle involving more than five people, it transitions into a war between academies.

“Three versus three. The duel dungeon is Phantom City. It ends when we admit defeat or everyone is dead… sound good?”

What Jouka casually announces is the most standard rule for duels.

A fifty-meter radius artificial dungeon modeled after a city block where simulated combat takes place.

Its biggest feature is that everything returns to its original state after the duel concludes.

In other words, death in a duel doesn’t mean the end.

In the age of modern dungeons, death isn’t something to be overly feared.

What should truly be feared is the eternal end that follows death; death itself is merely a factor determining the failure of a duel.

“Alright with us. Since it’s a duel, you must have the dungeon core, runaway.”

“Of course. This cost quite a bit, you know.”

Dungeons used for duels are regulated by the Apis Council.

Duels in other dungeons are prohibited, and even if someone dies during such an unauthorized duel, revival is difficult.

And this dungeon core is expensive.

Even the cheapest small-scale ones cost ten million.

Generally, students responsible for finding dungeons own them, but somehow, she seems to personally possess one.

Streamers must be loaded, huh.

“Then, let’s deploy the dungeon!”

Jouka throws a mechanical cube.

The space around distorts, and in the blink of an eye, we find ourselves standing in some urban area.

In the middle of a large road.

We stand on either side of the intersection.

Under the blue sky, the duel-starting lamps mounted like traffic lights at the intersection begin blinking sequentially from the left.

During this, Jouka tells us.

“This duel is just a warm-up for me. Let’s finish it quickly. I’ll confuse the opponents with explosions. You watch for your chance to strike with that dagger. And, Miss Toa, please handle the final blow. Your weapon should be able to do it, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Ah, um, I’ll do my best.”

Toa positions herself with a cannon taller than her height.

It’s an extremely disproportionate weapon, almost like a handle was forcibly attached to something meant to sit on the shoulder of a giant robot.

I’ve only seen her use it for beam attacks against Rokuhara as a deterrent, but how powerful is it actually?

…Come to think of it, this student named Jouka knows way too much about us.

Why did she need to investigate us so thoroughly?

But there’s no time to ask as the lamp flashes its final red.

Simultaneously, a buzzer sounds within the dungeon.

“We’ll win in ten seconds!”

That drawn-out voice.

As usual, while still streaming, Jouka sprints forward.

Followed by a swarm of frogs.

I run closely behind her.

“To think they’d charge straight at us!”

“Ma-chan Squad”

Ignoring the opponent’s spirited words, Jouka calmly speaks.

Behind her, the cluster of frogs undulates.

They quickly surround the three opponents and explode.

“Kyaaah!”

“Yuu-kun, it’s bad!”

“Going to die, going to die, going to die!?”

Pointing at the swirling chaos of screams from the explorers, Jouka gestures for me to dive in.

Seriously?

“It’s fine. Ma-chan only harms enemies.”

“I trust those words, alright.”

Reassured by the fact that death leads to resurrection, I grip my dagger and leap into the explosion.

The blast conveniently parts to create a path for me.

“Wow!”

Rushing through, I emerge in front of the three caught in the explosion.

“Huh!? This guy―”

One notices me, but it’s too late.

I slash through one, then another, efficiently paralyzing all three.

Almost simultaneously, the flames clear, expanding the view.

The three lie sprawled at my feet.

…At this point, it might be better if I finish them off myself.

Just as I’m gripping my dagger thinking that,

A frog leaps toward my feet.

“Wha!?”

My heightened thought speed, boosted by the red armband, immediately commands my body to dodge.

Adding magical power to my explorer-level physical abilities, I leap back just as the frog explodes.

“Ahh!? Sorry! Are you okay!?”

“…Yeah, I’m fine.”

Jouka hurriedly comes over to me, brushing the dust off my uniform.

“…Your uniform is still too big, huh.”

“Eh?”

Should you say that now? Well, it is kind of big…

“And, let’s leave the finishing touches to you!”

Before I can voice my doubts, Jouka raises her hand.

Understanding it as a signal, Toa nods and points her massive cannon at the paralyzed students.

Her mechanical body begins converging light.

Light rises around Toa and gets absorbed into her weapon.

Watching this, Jouka says,

“That’s the proper Convergence Artillery Attack.”

Eh, Toa can fire a convergence artillery attack!?

In the story, only a select few can do that!

Could it be that only Phectoms can manage it?

Maybe Miroku Senpai excels in something too…

“The user absorbs ambient magical power through themselves. The Dive Gear recalculates and converts it into usable magic. Bundling it together, the single strike released is the Convergence Artillery Attack.”

Following Jouka’s explanation, the process unfolds.

Multiple magic circles appearing around Toa start turning like gears.

The cold iron feel of Toa’s heavy cannon hums everywhere, with its muzzle glowing with light.

Standing amidst the particles of light with her cannon ready, Toa looks incredibly beautiful, providing great reference material.

Finally, Toa exhales deeply and says,

“Firing.”

A roar of shockwaves stirs the wind.

Cutting through asphalt and shattering nearby building windows into pieces, a golden beam surges forward.

Within a second, it engulfs the students.

Impressive.

That’s the only word for it.

I always stood on the side firing artillery, so I didn’t realize it had this much impact.

No, maybe this even surpasses the power of the Star Reader’s Staff that I’ve fired before.

“So this is… the Convergence Artillery Attack.”

“Yeah, it’s amazing, isn’t it? One of the answers to humanity’s strongest techniques passed down since the dawn of exploration. Just in terms of power, it’s still unmatched in modern times—an attack purely composed of magical power. …Amazing, right?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I answer dazedly.

Above us, the pleasant blue sky accompanies the duel-ending buzzer ringing out.

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