欢迎来到精灵之森

Diablo arrived at the 《Dark Green Cathedral》 that was deep within the 《Man-Eating Forest》.

It was a temple covered in moss, and was half collapsed.

If it was the same as the game, then the dungeon should extend down underground.

Departing Faltra City early in the morning, it was now just before noon.

His fellow traveller was only Sylvie.

「We’ve finally arrived, haven’t we, Diablo-san.」

「Umu.」

「The quest is just as I explained it in the town......」

「Just leave it to me.」

The contents weren’t that difficult.

It was to obtain a mass of enchanted metal known as 《Eternal Mythril》 which was found at the deepest part of this 《Dark Green Cathedral》.

By entrusting that to the town’s engraver, it could be processed into 《Marriage Rings》.

──It’s a bit different from the MMORPG Cross Reverie.

In the game, when the special quest is cleared with only a party of a man and a woman, 《Marriage Rings》 are granted as a completion bonus.

Sylvie gave an explanation.

「If it didn’t have to be the special 《Marriage Rings》, we could have entrusted the job to any old jeweler though.」

「So it would seem.」

Normal things were mere jewelry

What Diablo sought were 《Marriage Rings》 which were considered as magic tools.

In the game, it was merely a pointless item but......

In this other world, it possessed the effect of "making it possible to create children between different races".

「To think it would appear in this 《Dark Green Cathedral》......」

「It is no problem.」

As if to cut off the conversation, Diablo hurried on ahead.

He pushed open the stone doors.

He descended the stairway.

《The Dark Green Cathedral・Underground Floor 1》──

It was a dungeon made of stone.

The moss faintly shined, and thanks to that, they had no difficulty in walking even without having to use illumination magic.

Sylvie spoke as if to make sure of something.

「Diablo-san, don’t use any flashy magic, okay? I don’t want to be buried alive after all.」

「What a pain......」

「Fufu......What a strange feeling♪ This is my first time saying "hold back on the power" to a Chemical Elemental Magician.」

In this other world. Chemical Elemental Magic hadn’t developed. When speaking of Magicians, Summoners were the mainstream.

「Well, it is safer being a Summoner after all.」

He thought that was the case even in advancing through a dungeon just like this.

──Isn’t there a monster lurking in the shadow of the pillar? Wouldn’t we be attacked the moment we turn the corner? What about mechanisms in the floors and walls?

If a Summoned Beast were used, it would be possible to scout out the area.

Conversely, Chemical Elemental Magicians that needed to charge up were weak to receiving surprise attacks.

In the game, whether they were killed in a surprise attack by monsters, or had died from activating a trap, it would just end with only a penalty.

In this other world, whether if it was by a surprise attack, or a careless mistake......Once they died, it was over.

So it was only natural that a majority of the Magicians would aim to become Summoners.

Sylvie shouted.

「Diablo-san!」

「I’ve noticed!」

From behind, gigantic claws came swinging down.

He evaded with the minimum amount of movement.

When he turned around, it was a bear.

It was a monster with the outward appearance that seemed like it was a fancy teddy bear.

《Blessing Bear》

One mustn’t be deceived by its cute appearance.

This was a level 99 monster.

Diablo readied his Magic Staff, the 《Tonnerre Empereur》.

「Get blown away! 《Lightning Bullet》!!」

He fired a bullet of light.

A hole was drilled into the body of the 《Blessing Bear》.

The opponent was blown away.

However, since that was a level 80 magic, it didn’t have the power to defeat it in a single attack.

The monster that had a hole opened up in its stomach got up.

Furthermore, from behind the opponent, several more 《Blessing Bears》 came bustling in.

Sylvie shouted.

「《Holy Wood Bind》!!」

From the stone floor, shining vines sprouted out, and coiled about the group of monsters.

Going *Gaaaa!*, the enemies howled.

That was Support Magic.

Against a level 99 monster, it should stop its movements for six seconds.

Diablo charged his magic, and fired it.

「Burn away! 《Chain Lightning》!!」

It was magic that dealt a powerful lightning attack to a whole crowd of enemies.

*Bachi bachi* Sparks scattered, and the group of 《Blessing Bears》 spasmed.

Although their exteriors were burnt black, they came charging in.

Diablo clicked his tongue.

「They are surprisingly sturdy.」

In this other world, even the monsters had a trend of being weaker than they were in the game. It was probably because they also realistically avoided unnecessary fights.

However, these 《Blessing Bears》 possessed HP that wasn’t that different from how they were in the game, and were very warlike.

──Is it because they are monsters created by magic?

「《Ice Storm》!!」

From the tip of his held out staff, an intense squall of cold air was produced, and ran wild around the enemy.

The monsters were freezing up.

*Gugaaaa!!*

They roared.

Then they were smashed to pieces.

Finally──is what Diablo thought and breathed a sigh of relief in his mind.

Sylvie, who had erased her presence, raised her voice again.

「More are coming!」

Just as she said, they had been completely defeated, but 《Blessing Bears》 surged forth from further within the dungeon.

Although they were only level 99 monsters, having this many of them at once was troublesome.

Diablo raised the ends of his lips.

「Hmph......Just how I like it. I will annihilate the whole lot of them. There was also something that I wanted to test out anyway.」

Diablo fired the magic 《Lightning Bullet》 with his right hand.

A bullet of light sprung forth.

However, firing it with his right hand, he hit it onto his own left hand. He did a 《Magic Reflection》 with it.

Taking that reflected back bullet of light, he received it with his right hand.

It was reflected once again.

He was able to contain the shining bullet of magic in between his hands.

──With this being another world, I guess this sort of thing is possible.

The scope of practical use was wider than how things were in the game.

If it was merely multiplexing magic attacks, then it would be possible to do through his current main weapon, the 《Tonnerre Empereur》. Although the MP consumption would drastically increase.

However, if he were to make practical use of this reflection......

Diablo once again chanted magic.

「《Dark Bullet》!!」

──This is a cliche though.

He superimposed a bullet of light and a bullet of darkness.

In Diablo’s hands, the pure Chemical Elemental Magic changed into something heterogeneous.

Beside him, Sylvie opened her eyes wide.

「Wha!? Diablo-san......What’s that......!?」

「It’s Composite Magic!!」

It’s magic that didn’t exist in the MMORPG Cross Reverie.

It was new magic.

At one end, Diablo placed his fingertips on it.

The torrent that was between his hands was released towards the monsters.

A thunderous sound resounded throughout the dungeon.

Part 2

「It exploded, didn’t it.」

Diablo muttered.

Sylvie affirmed that with a tone that sounded tired.

「Sure didー.」

「Moreover, it was pretty loud.」

「The place shook, didn’t itー.」

The moment the Light and Darkness Magic were combined, a shockwave strong enough to shake the dungeon had spread out.

Diablo breathed a sigh.

「To think that it would explode so close by.」

「I thought that I’d get swallowed up by it and die, you know? Do those experiments when you’re alone, okay?」

「......Umu.」

He himself was uninjured due to the effect of the 《Demon King’s Ring》, but Sylvie who was next to him was in danger.

To have come out of it safely although complaining about it, as expected of the Guildmaster.

Thank goodness Rem and Shera weren’t dragged into this──is what he thought.

In the end, the magic experiment was a failure, but by bulldozing through with the level difference, the swarm of 《Blessing Bears》 was exterminated.

On the scorched floor, there was a large quantity of burnt stuffed animals scattered about.

The 《Blessing Bears》 would unravel their seams and have tentacles dumped out from within──that was the special action that they had, but since Diablo didn’t get close to enemies to begin with, that didn’t matter all that much.

──Ahh, I want to go home.

When his MP was reduced, his motivation towards everything would be weakened.

The things that he felt as precious or had strong feelings about up until then, he would stop caring about them and yearn only for bed.

Diablo took an MP Potion out from his pouch and drank it down.

His delusions cleared like a morning fog, and his paralyzed emotions returned. His weakened thoughts became vivid.

──Yosh, on to the next one!

He opened the stone doors.

They came out to a place that had a different atmosphere from the dungeon made of stone that they had been in up until now.

The floor, the walls, and the ceiling weren’t covered with moss, and on the fascinatingly elegant stone walls, torches lit through magic were emitting light.

Diablo compared it with the map of the 《Dark Green Cathedral》 that he had in his memory.

「So this is the deepest part.」

「That’s right. At the back of this place, there is a spot here the floor comes off a bit. The 《Eternal Mythril》 should be there.」

「Are you sure it hasn’t been harvested already?」

「Although I don’t know the reasoning behind it......it seems that only a bit can be collected when a male and female pair enter the place.」

──Looks like that part is the same as the game.

Sylvie added a supplement to her explanation.

「Although it seems that it can be collected several times if they repeatedly go in and out of the dungeon, the 《Blessing Bears》 and other monsters are strong after all. Even for me, I wouldn’t come here unless I was together with you, Diablo-san.」

「I see.」

A majority of the Faltra City Adventurers were around level 20.

There is no way many of them would go to a place where level 99 monsters would appear in large amounts.

He asked a question that suddenly bothered him.

「Sylvie, it doesn’t seem like this is your first time coming her, does it......?」

「Fufu......It’s because although I look like this, I am the Guildmaster. If the request is put in, I can at least explore a dungeon.」

「I see......」

On their way to the back, Sylvie stopped him with one hand.

「ッ!!」

Falling a bit behind, Diablo also noticed.

──Something is here?

Before long, a low voice resounded.

「Hou, for you to have noticed, you’re pretty good......As expected of you.」

The one that appeared from the shadow of a pillar was a male Dwarf. Since a majority of his face was hidden with a rich beard, they couldn’t tell his age, but going by his voice, he was in the prime of his life.

He should have had dog-like ears and tail as the traits of a Dwarf, but they were hidden in armor. The man wore a full-body metal armor, and he held a dark grey axe in his hand.

Diablo felt that it was surprising.

「To think that there was someone that came to a dungeon of this level before us.」

「......Could it be, were you waiting for us?」

Hearing Sylvie’s conjecture, the male Dwarf curved his lips into a sneer.

Thinking about it──

On the way here, there were no new traces of battle. All of them were marks of old battles.

In other words, this Dwarf skipped the upper floors, and was in this place.

「Was there a secret path in this 《Dark Green Cathedral》?」

「Gufufu......I’m good at digging holes, see.」

It seemed that was the case.

Diablo shrugged his shoulders.

「This dungeon has no meaning if it isn’t entered with a man and woman pair. You won’t get a cut of it.」

「Whaaat, there’s no need to worry. I’ll be taking what I want.」

「Mu?」

The Dwarf shouted.

「I am the king of the Dwarven clan Gobbal──Bultame! Pulverizing happy couples that would try to obtain 《Eternal Mythril》 which are the ingredients for 《Marriage Rings》──That is my desire!」

「Ugh!?」

Diablo shrank back.

He held his head in his hands.

「I, I am in......a happy......? Couple......?」

He stared at Sylvie.

She made a bitter smile.

「Nnー......Diablo-san and I aren’t like that though......Well, anyone wanting 《Marriage Rings》 would generally be called a happy person though.」

「Guwaaaahhh!」

Diablo got down to his knees.

Very slightly, he was self-aware of it.

Compared to when he was alone in his original world, he now had both Rem and Shera. Putting aside the time at the start, right now, he clearly held affection towards them.

Even with Krum, Sasala, and Sylvie, although he had to do it with his Demon King roleplay, he could talk with them.

──Isn’t that a riajuu!?

「Uuu......Is the one that should explode......me?」

「Wait, Diablo-san, what are you saying!?」

Sylvie was flustered.

Riajuus should explode──It seemed that sort of ideology was outside of her sense of values.

Diablo spoke as if vomiting blood.

「Fools that carry the useless emotion known as love, they need to explode, don’t they?」

「Then the Races would be destroyed, you know!?」

That was a fair argument.

This place wasn’t a game, although it was another world, it was reality. Unless riajuus left behind children, the Races would perish.

Diablo covered his face with both hands.

「Uuu......I understand that. I understand that but......」

「Wh, what’s wrong?」

She was bewildered.

Diablo squeezed out a voice of resentment.

「Even so, I......Guys that can have fun and flirt with girls as their plain selves, I hate them!」

Sylvie displayed a complicated-looking face.

「Diablo-san, just what happened......in your past?」

──Nothing happened at all!

That was the lamentation of his soul.