34 Chapter Thirty-Three

"You know... This constant surveillance is getting really annoying."

I said like I was pointing out how pleasant the weather was. The black-haired man with cat ears flinched, violently, as he whirled around, his spear prepared to strike, and he did so, the sharp tip of the weapon heading to my head.

Tilting my head to the side, I grabbed the spear, twisting my center of gravity and raising a leg, sending a mana-reinforced kick into his abdomen.

The man staggered back as I pulled the spear from his hands, holding it up to inspect it absently.

"Nice spear..."

I mutter, twirling it around as he dashes at me. He was fast, I had to admit, faster than Ais... But not faster than me.

His own spear plunged into his shoulder, knocking him off his feet, he tilted the spear up, and pushed it down onto the rooftop.

Holding onto the spear, I stared down at him, my hood still covering my head. Reaching behind me, I pulled out my new dagger made from a dragon tooth and swung it, impaling it into the palm that was reaching for the hilt of the spear in a futile effort to take it out of his shoulder.

"No, bad cat... No."

I chastised him, plunging the dagger into the rooftop, keeping it in place with élenchos.

"Now, be a good boy and deliver a message to your goddess for me, would you? You see... I am quite tired of her eyes constantly staring at me."

I start explaining, throwing my other dagger into his other hand while my throwing knives sink into his legs, keeping him sprawled out on the rooftop as I casually lean on the spear, looking down on him, literally and figuratively.

"You dare-"

Blaze flared around the spear, searing the stab wound on his shoulder. Ignoring the scream of pain with practiced ease, I looked him over... Skinny, cat tail, cat ears, pointed nose, pointed chin... I could confidently say that I had no idea who the hell this was, mostly since the information network wasn't fully up yet.

"Now now, you don't talk, you are just the letter..."

I smile down at him, unseen due to the hood.

"Do me a favor and remember my words before I sear them into your skin, okay?"

He glared at me, and if glares could kill, I would be ashes by now.

__

Opening the front door, I walked into a... Peculiar sight. Shohei was sprawled out on the couch, looking dead to the world, though his chest was still moving, so, there was that.

Ava could not even get to the other couch, half sprawled on the floor, her head at least was on it so... there was that...

I stared at the two for a moment, before shrugging.

Floating up Ava on the couch, I laid her down comfortably. A quick magic circle cleaned up all the grime and sweat on their bodies and clothes.

Walking to the kitchen, I floated the kettle to me and filled it with the water from a magic stone-powered tap, using Blaze to build it, and quickly prepared some tea for myself. Grabbing the stand, I walked back to the living room,

Putting the stand down on the table, I placed the kettle on it and poured myself the tea. Sitting down on the Sofa, I sipped at it casually, looking up to the ceiling and raising a curious eyebrow.

Chuckling, I waved my hand, blocking a small trace of divinity that was allowing the gaze to invade the house with an intricate magic circle.

Divinity was a tricky thing, but when you cracked it, or in the case of me and my previous companions, dismantled it and fixed it back up again like a Rubik's cube, it became less of a problem and more of a benefit.

Leaning back onto the sofa, I released a sigh of contentment, things were getting better, they weren't great but... they were getting better.

Hopefully, things will remain this way.

The silence lingered as I enjoyed my tea, the pleasant taste was calming and that's what I needed right now.

___

"So this is how far the Freya Familia has fallen..."

I sigh, looking around the dungeon floor. This was annoying, The four Pallums of the Hera Familia, well, the more famous ones, at least.

"Captain..."

Shohei muttered, standing behind me with Ava between us.

I didn't know these four names, and I did not really care to learn them, one of them would not be coming out of this alive anyway.

Shohei walked up next to me as we both stood in front of the four Pallums that were oddly enough, silent.

"Shohei, take Ava and go back to the surface."

I said simply. Eyeing the four absently.

"Are you sure, captain?"

I nodded as a shadow rose from my feet, shaping itself into my image and stepping next to the two.

"Bold of you to think that you are allowed to leave."

One with the oddly shaped spear spoke, lunging forward. My eyes followed his movements for a moment, his speed was not impressive, his form was mediocre, and with his level, he was most likely focusing on brute strength...

My hand gripped my dragon tooth dagger, unsheathing it and clicking up. A scream echoed through the dungeon floor as a hand went flying into the air. I twisted my body to the side, raising my foot and sending it into the Pallums abdomen, throwing him back and into the wall of the fourteenth floor.

As the footsteps of my Familia members got fainter and fainter, I sighed as they were finally out of range, catching the falling hand that was still gripping the spear.

"I thought I sent that cat to deliver the message..."

I muttered, looking at the remaining three with disinterest.

"I didn't think your goddess cares so little about her children..."

That got a reaction out of the four, even the one who was missing a limb seemed more concerned about his goddess being offended rather than his... well, missing arm.

"Don't you dare speak about her like that! She showed us love and care dwarfing any other."

... Ah... Fanatics, great, juuust great.

"Alright then, tell me, what was your grand plan? Rough me up using superior numbers?"

I asked, looking at the hand in my grasp before burning it to ashes with Blaze, stripping them from the possibility of re-attaching it.

As the spear dropped to the ground, I kicked it up, grabbing it out of the air and twirling it around, holding it to my side in my other hand.

"Alright, which one of you wants to eat your own heart?"

The one with a sword came first and I responded in kind, Blaze flaring around my body.

-Shadow POV-

Two daggers collided with a greatsword as the giant Boaz was pushed back.

Blaze traveled up the opposing blade, but the man held on to the greatsword with a death grip. Death resistance, probably.

Pushing the greatsword down, my feet left the ground as my armor shifted with the movement of my body. A kick to the throat pushed the Boaz back, freeing the path forward.

A beam of purple energy impacted his chest as Ava finished her chant. Taking advantage, I rushed forward, the world blurring as my leg kicked up the greatsword about to come down to split my body in half.

As Ava and Shohei ran past us, I channeled more of my mana into Blaze, using élenchos to give it send a blast of purple flame forward.

Imbuing my limbs with Mana to the limits, uninhibited by any human limitations, I slammed my hands into the floor. The limbs turned into strings of shadow, bursting up from the ground where the Boaz was standing, wrapping around his body.

Using élenchos, I created a magic circle in front of me. Magic resistance is useless if the effects are natural.

Floor Twenty-fifth, also known as the water city was abundant with water. It was a simple task to transfer that with an already existing magic circle and pressurize that water to make a deadly attack.

The stream of water, slammed into the Boaz, a grunt of pain muffled by the water as the dungeon walls collapsed, falling on him and trapping him under the rubble.

The dungeon shook and I glanced up at the cracking ceiling, spotting two red, glowing eyes of monster that I haven't seen even on the fifty ninth floor.

This day just kept getting better and better, didn't it?